Obligatory Beach Episode!
by Aros001
Summary: Time for some fun in the sun as Ainz and company head to the beach! But wait…isn't the Sorcerer Kingdom completely landlocked?
1. Let's take a vacation!

**Obligatory Beach Episode!**

**Part 1: Let's take a vacation!**

Ainz raised his hand up to his forehead to cast much needed shade over his eyes. While the Sun's rays could not damage what he technically didn't have, the brightness was still quite the abrupt change from the 3rd Floor's dank crypt and his vision needed a moment to adjust.

"_Well, I'll be damned."_

Words alone were not enough to express the admiration he felt for his surroundings. This wasn't a sight he thought he'd find in this new world and, frankly, it was a sight he knew full well he never would have seen back in his old one.

A single step forward and Ainz felt the ground sink ever so slightly from the weight of his sandal. Smiling, though his fleshless face couldn't show it, he bent downward and took up a scoop of the earth, allowing the many grains to slip seamlessly through his boney hand.

Sand. Genuine sand. Glittering like diamonds all across the shore.

And indeed a shore it was. The light breeze caught some of the grains he'd released and pulled them towards the water, bluer than anything he'd ever seen and ebbing and flowing in a consistent rhythm, like it could lull one to sleep.

Off in the distance, Ainz could even swear he was hearing the squawks of seagulls. This truly was about as picture perfect to a true beach as one could imagine and if his curious eyes weren't on the lookout for flaws in the effects, he'd probably never be able to tell the difference if he didn't already know the truth.

The water became darker the deeper down one would look but there was something poking out just before the view hit total blackness. Jagged and rocky, it appeared that there was a large underwater mountain sitting beneath the waves. If you strained your eyes enough, you might perhaps see the faint glow of red lines oozing out from two holes in the mountain's side and think the structure to be a volcano. While not quite _that_ dangerous, the shape underneath was nothing for those unfortunate enough to not be welcome here to take lightly. It's arms and legs stayed motionless beneath the darkness and hid well just how colossal the silent observer was.

This being was the stone golem known as Gargantua, the Guardian of the 4th Floor of Nazarick.

The Guardian of this floor.

"You both have most certainly outdone yourselves." Ainz addressed the two standing in wait behind him with genuine praise.

* * *

"_-and that is my report." Demiurge finished his monologue, hand over heart as he gave a proper bow. The entire thing had taken only roughly five minutes and none of the others within the room had interrupted him even once._

_His subordinate done talking, Ainz looked back up from the world map Albedo had laid out across his desk. The maid to his right, Fifth, he believed her name was, held numerous more scrolls and papers that the two Guardians had brought in, but Ainz felt no urge to have them gone through right now as well._

"_Excellent work, Demiurge. Your efforts have pleased me greatly. Though given your history, I suppose I'd be foolish to expect anything less."_

"_Such praise! I am unworthy, Lord Ainz." Demiurge said with a slightly deeper bow, his tone surprisingly humble and thankful for an archdevil. _

_Ainz's eyes went down again to the map, his quiet stare tracing along the coast from Re-Estize to the Holy Kingdom, and then Nazarick's distance from both._

"_Does something trouble you, my lord?"_

_Ainz head perked back up at Albedo's question, realizing he'd been sitting in silence for too long._

"_No, it's nothing. I was just pondering about the western sea. Demiurge," The archdevil straightened his posture as he was addressed by his master. "You spent much time in the Holy Kingdom's region. Did you have the opportunity to visit the bay?"_

"_Roughly three times over; the first two for information gathering and the third to set the area up as a possible [Gate] location if needed. However, most of my work was centered around the Abelion Hills. The sea was quite out of the way from there and thus I'm afraid I don't know much more than the broader details." Demiurge explained, his face showing he was clearly dissatisfied with himself for not being able to give a more through answer._

"_That's quite understandable. I suppose mermaids and sea-folk would not be as useful as demi-humans in storming the capital, nor might they have had the same level of grudges against the kingdom."_

"_Right you are, my lord. Though there are some such as the Vah Uns with abilities relating heavily to water that lead me to believe they may have once had a greater connection to the sea before they were forced out by the humans. If you wish I can explore this theory more. We have a great many Vah Uns thanks to our acquisition of the Abelion Hills."_

_Ainz hand rested on his chin. "Hmm… It would be interesting to explore the concept of evolution in this world. Thus far everything has operated relatively close to straight guidelines of YGGDRASIL, with the greatest changes coming from level gains. Have these creatures always been the way they are or did they start off as something else and have to gain an affinity with water in order for their species not to go extinct? The answer could offer some insight onto how human and demi-humans may change over the generations having to co-exist with each other and the undead…" He muttered off his loose thoughts to himself._

_The two servants exchanged looks between themselves._

"_Lord Ainz, do you have a desire to visit the western sea yourself?" Albedo asked him._

"_A desire? …Yes, I suppose I would eventually like to see it for myself. Even while adventuring as Momon I was aware Re-Estize and the Roble Holy Kingdom engaged in trade by way of sea but I was never in Re-Lobell, the closest port, to have a reason to be near the ocean. And my convoy with the Liberation Army didn't take me that close either._

"_Plus…" He added thoughtlessly. "The others and I always did talk about taking a beach vacation. But we never found the time."_

_The two of the three greatest minds in Nazarick were lost only for a second before understanding quickly who the "others" were. The other forty Supreme Beings of Ainz Ooal Gown._

_This talk must have been quite long ago, back in their prior world of Helheim. The only body of water the two were aware of there was the Grenbera Swamp in which the Great Tomb was originally located, though given that no one outside of the Supreme Beings ever left Nazarick before coming to this new world, it was little surprise the creators would know of a sea their creations were ignorant of._

"_We'll get started right away!" Albedo joyously declared._

"_Started?" Ainz said, his head jerking back up, feeling like he'd missed a scene._

"_We'll have to survey the area for at least a few weeks. Make absolutely certain we can spot and clear away any possible threats." Demiurge said._

"_Hold on-"_

"_Clearing away the indigenous species may be the most efficient solution in that case." Albedo threw out the suggestion to her fellow Guardian. "Though if the goal is for Lord Ainz to be able to observe them, perhaps we could fence off specific areas as enclosures?"_

"_Wait a min-"_

"_Ah! Yes, that I can do. For some of them I may even be able to create multiple areas; one for natural, undisturbed observation and the other to be more of a petting zoo. After all, what is a vacation without entertainment?"_

"_A splendid idea. And of course, I'll have to get Pestonya to prepare a legion of maids for such a trip. Given how much larger in scope this will be than Lord Ainz's stay-at-home vacation, some more resources may need to be pulled in as well. Perhaps the Pleiades, and even Sebas could-"_

"_Such noise. I demand silence!" He finally managed to cut them off, invoking the practiced manner he'd gone over so many times over in the privacy of his quarters. Ainz was relieved to see its effects were immediate and Demiurge and Albedo quickly stopped talking, bowing down to give their master their full attention and clearly ashamed of themselves for how much their excitement had overtaken them._

_With a closed hand up to his mouth, instilled into him as a polite habit, Ainz cleared his throat, despite not exactly having one as he once did._

"_While I am grateful for your enthusiasm, I fear you both are rushing with too much haste to fulfill what is merely a whim for me at the moment."_

"_Forgive us, lord." Albedo apologized for both herself and Demiurge, whom gave no objection. "It's just…that is our purpose in life. Our sole reason for existing is to see that your whims and desires be made into a reality, however small or large they may be."_

"_I understand. However, I am not a spoiled child. I make no such demands that I get everything I want the moment I want it, most especially when the timing is inconvenient." Ainz attempted to explain himself. "Besides, like I said, such a vacation is not one I planned going on by myself. I'm fully aware you all cannot see yourselves as equivalent to your creators but, were I to go, I would wish to bring the Floor Guardians along with me; not as servants but rather as fellow vacationers. A holiday is hardly as enjoyable without company, after all. It's different from a day off in that regard."_

_Demiurge and Albedo both were taken aback by their master's incredible generosity…as well as a bit conflicted about it. Ainz could tell by the looks on their faces. Of everything the NPCs excelled at, relaxation was not one of them. Albedo was not exaggerating in how she said they viewed their life's purpose; to serve and nothing more._

"_As such, with the unknown assailant who brainwashed Shalltear still out there, such a large movement of so many of Nazarick's key members would be a massive risk, and a very unnecessary one at that." He continued on with ramblings from the top of his head, throwing out the idea like a bone in hopes it'd be satisfactory. "So many of us clustered together outside of our own territory would be a prime target for our unseen enemy. Even with our own on hand, any World Item could easily turn an even fight into a massacre. There are simply too many factors we'd have to account and prepare for, to the point I don't believe it'd be worth it in the end. Not when we have so much else we already are doing. …Those are my feelings, anyway."_

_That, thankfully, seemed to win them over. "Understood. Forgive us for acting so hasty, my lord." Demiurge bowed his head low again. Like when she spoke for him, Albedo gave no objections to his words. She felt the same._

"_I must ask that you two not take any drastic actions or change the current plans we have set in motion. Not to fit in something like this." Ainz said, just for further clarification. "I'd far rather have things done right than quickly. Besides, despite the drill I included into your plan, Demiurge, I have no intentions of dying anytime soon. As such there is no need to rush things. Am I understood?"_

"_Yes, lord!" Both Guardians spoke in unison with a perfectly synchronized bow._

* * *

That conversation was roughly three weeks ago. At the time Ainz had been proud of how he handled it. The NPCs too often had the problem of taking everything he said far too literally, causing them to act on orders he never realized he gave. At the time, Ainz thought he'd done well to nip the problem in the bid before it could start.

It was then three days ago that Ainz had been told this place was almost ready, as per his request. Apparently, like with many things the NPCs brought up with him, it was something Ainz was already supposed to know about.

"_I need to stop skimming the documents I'm supposed to sign off on."_ Ainz sobbed inside his head.

Back when it was just Nazarick, while it was difficult he still managed to plow his way through the reports he was given and gain at least some understanding of what was going on around him. But once the Sorcerer Kingdom became set-up, there was simply too much coming in from too many places, nearly all of it far too complicated for a simple salaryman to comprehend. The one thing that helped keep Ainz from cracking under the pressure was that Albedo and Demiurge were infinitely smarter than him, thus he could generally trust their judgement and sign off on their proposals with little worry of what they contained. If he'd bothered to read in full even just one or two during these past few weeks, he might have seen that they contained asking for his permission to use this floor and a few key items to create this oceanfront wonderland.

"We worked diligently to create a beach worthy of your presence, my lord." Albedo said. "The beaches of the Northern Holy Kingdom and Re-Lobell acted as the basic templates we started from, with the additional details coming from the many books of reference in the library on the 10th floor."

"_Ashurbanipal has books on beaches?"_ Ainz thought in curious surprise. He supposed it was possible. In addition to spell books that were items directly from YGGDRASIL, Nazarick's library contained many out-of-copyright books from Ainz's original world that were legally safe for downloading into the game. However, most of those were through the efforts of Tabula Smaragdina and he was primarily into classic literature, novels, and books of the occult. It was hard to imagine him pulling in books full of sun and fun at the beach.

Then again, there were also plenty of fanfictions in that library written by players of YGGDRASIL, both in and outside of the guild Ainz Ooal Gown; a thought of which made a nervous Ainz want to quickly find something else to think about.

He looked and pointed up at the Sun. "That effect… Am I correct in assuming that is the Mid-Tier item Nurturing Daylight?"

"Correct you are, my lord." Demiurge answered, his joyful tone showing how impressed he was that his master had recognized the item so quickly. "With the assistance of Pandora's Actor we were able to narrow down a list considerably of items that could simulate the Sun and its warmth underground, at no cost to Nazarick itself."

Ainz thought about what he knew of the item. It increased the amount of time summoned plant-based monsters could stay out as well as increasing their resistance to damage by 10%. Sometimes 20% if certain conditions were met. He remembered Punitto Moe would use it sometimes in the early days after he joined the guild, as his in-game avatar was a Death Vine and would receive the item's benefits too. Though he eventually stopped using it once he obtained better and more efficient items and Nurturing Daylight was kept in storage ever since.

If Ainz was remembering correctly, the item could be used up to six times a day, with a decent lasting time per each cast as it wasn't a particularly powerful item in comparison to many others in YGGDRASIL. If he had to guess Demiurge had some of his subordinates hidden somewhere out of sight to keep the item active.

"And the horizon and blue sky?" Ainz asked next. While he rarely had to venture to the 4th floor he still knew quite well that it was not an infinite room. It most certainly had walls on all sides; walls which were absent now.

"Illusion magic, of course." Demiurge continued. "While it's obviously nothing in comparison to what Lord Blue Planet created for the 6th floor, we endeavored to create as wide and immaculate an ocean and coast as possible."

"I see." Ainz commented with a nod. If he had to guess, the choices for where to put the beach had probably been between the 4th floor and the 6th floor. The deciding factor was likely the lakes themselves. The 6th floor was significantly larger than the 4th, easily being the largest in Nazarick, in fact. But the 4th's underground lake was significantly larger than the 6th's, giving more room to swim out and more blank space as not to muddle the illusion that one was on a beach.

He didn't bother asking about the sand. Even to him it seemed pretty obvious that it'd been created by simply grinding up rocks until it reached the fineness desired. A simple explanation that was the most likely to be true. That said, Ainz was somewhat curious what type of rocks they'd used. There was plenty of brown on this beach but a good deal of white mixed in he was starting to notice as well, giving the shore a very pleasing tan to even peach shade in color as it reflected the sun's rays. He might have to give in and ask Demiurge about it at a later time.

It wasn't a real beach. Only a simulation, really. But a damn good one at that. A little like a fancy resort.

Ainz looked over his current attire with some embarrassment. He'd acquired many cosmetic and clothing related items during his years playing YGGDRASIL, most of which he'd never equipped even once but still showed his hoarder tendencies in never throwing any of it away. To think he'd be bringing something like this out now in place of his normal God-level items…

A blue Hawaiian style button-up shirt with white flowers, open toed sandals, and a pair of breezy tan short. It was only due to equipment mechanics that they were not falling off his meatless skeleton body, staying on surprisingly secure despite a complete lack in resistance. Ironically, Ainz had been excited when he first won these clothes in the random lottery, as they offered resistance against fire; a critical weakness of undead like him. But he later would find out the increase in resistance was only about 0.5%. It was genuinely just another useless gag item by those shitty devs.

He had worn this outfit only once and then never again. It was at the insistence of Bukubukuchagama and Peroroncino; neither of whom could stop laughing even after he took it off. Apparently Ainz looked like he could be someone's dad.

"I am very proud of the both of you for what you've created here." Ainz praised the two again, getting more bows in response. "And with that, I most certainly hope neither of you have forgotten what else I said. I don't wish for this to be a vacation just for me but for others under my rule as well. That includes the both of you."

"Your kindness knows no bounds, lord." Albedo said.

"We could never forget even a single word of your majestic speech." Demiurge added on. "As per your orders, the other Guardians and the Pleiades Six Stars were sent ahead and are further down this beach, save for those whom had matters to finish up on their floors first and thus will be along shortly. They have been tasked with working out any last minute imperfections they find before you arrive, at which time the collective Beach Vacation Day shall begin."

"Very good." Ainz thanked him, inwardly begging that the two truly weren't misunderstanding his intentions as anything beyond the basic and obvious. The last time he'd taken a vacation, primarily in the hopes of encouraging the NPCs to eventually do the same, Albedo had tasked the ENTIRETY of the Homunculus Maid staff to assist him in every last part of his time off. Literally every last part, including moving him. They were determined to make sure he wouldn't have to do anything himself and for those three days of vacation Ainz had never felt more stressed out in his life. Even being the ruler of a new raising nation was a windfall compared to that. He couldn't go through it all again.

"Everyone taking part in the vacation has been instructed to enjoy themselves." Albedo explained, Ainz feeling like that statement sounded like a bit of a contradiction to itself but whatever. "They have been informed on proper beach vacation procedure and are all garbed in appropriate beach attire.

"…Speaking of which…" She added on, a shy smile and a red blush coming across her features as Albedo held her hands together behind her back. "Is my garment…satisfactory, my lord?"

"_Dammit. I was hoping to avoid this."_ Ainz swore to himself. If he had the ability to sweat he most certainly would be doing so and not because of the sun.

Admittedly, it was more modest than most would probably imagine the swimsuit of a succubus to be. It wasn't composed entirely of straps or strings or didn't only cover up her nipples and nothing else. Honestly it was a fairly normal white bikini set.

The issue was that it was clad around Albedo and her very generous figure. She was properly covered and yet the way it hugged her figure still felt like very little was being left to the imagination. It was one of the few times Ainz was grateful for the emotional dampener placed upon him by his Overlord body. While he hated the feelings of emptiness it'd often leave him with, it was certainly invaluable in help him resist temptation and avoid doing something he knew he'd regret. To Ainz, a boss taking advantage of a subordinate, especially in a sexual way, was unforgivable.

All that said, Ainz had no idea where she actually got the outfit from. He couldn't speak for the other NPCs but he, rather embarrassingly, knew firsthand that all Tabula had left to Albedo in terms of a wardrobe was the one style of dress and an entire duffel bag of underwear. He supposed maybe a bikini was close enough to a bra that Tabula might have included it in the bag, but if that was the case and Ainz was assuming the NPCs didn't have a way to get new clothes for themselves, then now he was going to have to wonder why Ulbert left Demiurge with a speedo!

Quite frankly Ainz was doing his best to avoid looking too directly at either of his subordinates right now, though for very different reasons between them.

"It…looks quite lovely on you." Ainz told her, trying to pick his words very carefully. He typically couldn't bring himself to blame Albedo much for how she would act sometimes. After all, the cause was likely because of him screwing with her settings and warping her feelings for him. Still, he had no desire to get tackled and mounted again and so chose carefully what he hoped wouldn't set her off. "I am very pleased you both are getting into the spirit of things."

Albedo's features brightened immensely and for a moment Ainz nearly took a step back, fearing he'd still said too much. But then…

"What do you think of my attire, Lord Ainz?"

Ainz, Demiurge, and a very instantly soured Albedo turned in unison to the interrupting voice, having just arrived via the warp gate.

Shalltear Bloodfallen, accompanied by a duo of her Vampire Brides; one to carry her belongings and the other to hold the black parasol overhead to provide her master shade. Despite being a vampire herself, Shalltear's high level should mean any penalty she'd receive from the sun would be practically non-existent, so it must have been just a personal preference.

"…_Is that a school swimsuit?"_ Ainz's thoughts finally gathered themselves cohesively enough to form that observation. Indeed, the dark blue one-piece was in fact a Sukumizu, with Shalltear's own name written across the white tag across the chest. Admittedly Ainz had never seen one in person before. The schools 99% of the population back in his old world could afford to go to didn't exactly have the budget or resources for athletics. But cultural osmosis and plenty of old anime had informed him over time as to exactly what she was wearing.

In this case at least, Ainz had no trouble believing Peroroncino had left such a thing to his pride-and-joy creation.

"Excuse me, Shalltear, but we were in the middle of a conversation." Albedo spoke at her. Politely enough but the tone underneath the words made it quite clear she was very unhappy about the vampire's presence here. "Lord Ainz was just giving me his thoughts on _my_ swimsuit."

"A short sentence no doubt. You're not really giving much to comment on, after all." Shalltear quipped, feigning ignorance as to Albedo's clear irritation with her.

"Excuse me?"

She flashed a smirk. "I take it you're familiar with Gap Moe?" Shalltear asked, closing one eye while the other shot a prideful, challenging look.

"Of course I am." Albedo said, sounding offended by the very question. "Lord Tabula himself was a fan of the genre and designed my sisters and I in accordance with it."

Shalltear gave a small snort. "Oh? Well then, you must have just been his practice before creating the Gap Moe characteristics for your sisters. That's the only conclusion I can come up with for this poor current showing."

"What was that, you preserved lamprey?" One could almost hear Albedo's teeth crack. Her face still kept its normal, pure smile but the twitch at the end of her lips showed well how little she appreciated that remark.

Shalltear just gave a smirk as her retort. "Gap Moe is defined as something completely contradictory to one's usual behavior or appearance; highly appealing because it is to see the person in a completely different light that you never expect." The vampire then jabbed her finger forward dramatically to point at her rival's chest. "The biggest difference in your current attire is that your swimsuit exposes more skin. Other than that it's hardly a noticeable change from what you usually wear. There's no excitement to be had because it's what's already been seen."

Shalltear then folded her arms behind her head seductively.

"Compare that to beautifully white skin almost constantly hidden behind the fabric of a flowing evening dress, now being unwrapped like a gift to the world's eyes. Between the two, it's simply no contest."

Albedo's eye gave a twitch. The fact that she hadn't already attempted strangling Shalltear showed her incredible self-control, she'd like to think. For her to throw such statements around like she knew a thing about what Lord Tabula had instilled within her very being…!

But then, to Shalltear's surprise, Albedo's face relaxed itself, the succubus then giving a small, short chuckle. One that was almost…pitying?

"Heh. Your understanding of true Gap Moe is most saddening if you think just a contrast to one's usual appearance is what's most desirable." Albedo said, certainly using her greater height to her advantage; looking down upon Shalltear with a smug and knowing smile. "The kind you're using is merely a gimmick. A momentary titillation. It'll spice things up for a moment but any lover will get bored quickly with it if that's all the attraction there is." She placed her hand over her heart. "True Gap Moe is a constant factor; a part of one's true self. To have the beauty of an angel, yet the twisted black soul of a demon. To be the tempter and destroyer of any man whom so foolishly cast their unworthy eyes upon you, yet to be the perfect wife for the one you love beyond all others, to the point you could not bear even the thought of another's touch. Darkness hidden beneath the light and light hidden beneath the darkness." She gave such a speech like it was a ballad etched into the very pumps of blood coursing through her veins. "That is true Gap Moe.

"And besides, even if I were wrong, which I'm not," Albedo added, pressing her finger into Shalltear's breast. "If you were truly committed to your version of Gap Moe you would have chosen a more revealing swimsuit and I think we know the real reason, or should I say two reasons, why you didn't. Such a shame. Gap Moe can be a trap but it's not meant to be an outright lie."

"You sagging old cow!"

"Like you would know what sag even looks like!"

Their foreheads collided and grinded against each other; lightning clashing between their stares as they refused to let the other budge them. Their murderous auras filled the air, making it grow thick and toxic.

"_Experience tells me I should leave quickly before they try to get me involved in this."_ Ainz noted to himself before turning away from the sight. "Demiurge, I would like to see the rest of the beach."

"Of course, my lord. Right this way." Demiurge complied easily. Unbeknownst to him, this was one of the few times he actually did fully understand his master's mindset and the need to get away.

* * *

It was the tops of many blonde scalps that greeted Ainz as he and Demiurge arrived at what was clearly the main area for this retreat. At first the presence of so many maids gave him trembling flashbacks to his last vacation but he managed to push those worries aside for now, finding something else to distract his thoughts.

"_Something smells amazing."_

Again, Demiurge and Albedo had truly gone all out. A snack shack had been set up right here on the shore. The lumpy red and white myconid head of Nazarick's prized Sous-Chef could be spotted mixing drinks on the other side of the counter with the grace of a professional while the remaining Homunculus Maids not yet able to come to Ainz were busy tending the grills, likely under the chef's guidance.

Underneath the veranda of the shack, the large blue outer shell of Cocytus was able to be spotted almost instantly, sitting atop a single stool that held up his weight surprisingly well. The Guardian of the 5th floor looked no different than usual and that was probably for the best. Nudity was the natural state of his species and wearing a pair of trunks over his armored hide just for today would likely make it harder to not think about once he took them back off.

"_He's really keeping himself tucked into the shade."_ Ainz commented to himself, noting that even Cocytus' long tail was curled quite inwardly towards the rest of his body to keep it under the veranda. _"Like with Shalltear, Cocytus' level should be high enough that the sun's not affecting him in any significant way. Did I overlook something?"_ The possibility caused a pit to form in his stomach (not that he had one anymore. A pit on his orb?). True, he hadn't been aware that this beach was actually being made but it was still his idea to begin with, especially the part about having the Guardians join him for it. It hadn't even occurred to Ainz to ask the NPCs how they might feel about going to a beach. Everyone here was probably under the impression that it was his orders that they had to go. What were the odds that Cocytus, Shalltear, and who knows how many others were suffering in silence because they didn't wish to upset him?

While Ainz held in the painful guilt in his gut, a new figure approached from the side, standing before the maids.

"Welcome, Lord Ainz. Do you find everything to be to your satisfaction?"

Though it was no question who the elderly gentleman was, Ainz almost didn't recognize him at first outside of his normal butler attire, apparently having grown quite used to the sight of that black suit.

"Ah, Sebas! I'm quite glad you could make it. Yes, this entire place is very lovely." He said, taking the moment to glance around and take in more of the sights. Off in the blue of the ocean, he finally spotted some color and motion besides that of the waves. The Pleiades Six Stars off playing with each other in the water. Even from this distance away, Ainz could tell they were all dressed in attire that suited their individual character settings, though the most noticeable from here was CZ Delta's innertube, one of the same camo-print as her normal scarf and gloves. This gave more confidence to him that he was right about their creators giving them such swimwear a long time ago (as well as providing some relief, as Ainz just now realized he didn't know if any of the NPCs could actually swim). "They look like they're having fun."

"Indeed. We are all here at your service, lord."

"Hm." Ainz gave a small grunt, getting the feeling Sebas hadn't quite understood what he meant. Letting his eyes wander a bit more, he took notice of the tall white wooden chair in the direction Sebas had come from and then the small metal whistle around his neck. "So, you are our lifeguard, then?" He asked, coming to the natural conclusion.

"Indeed. I am truly honored by the duty you have bestowed upon me and I shall endeavor to meet all expectations you have."

"_Probably not the best time to say that I only signed off on Demiurge and Albedo's ideas and didn't even know they were asking to assign you as Lifeguard."_ Ainz commented inwardly, admittedly unable to think of any time it'd be good to say such a thing.

In a non-judgmental way, Ainz did find Sebas' beach attire somewhat humorous, mainly because it both did and didn't suit him.

A red and white pinstriped pair of swimming trunks and shirt, blending together so well into each other that it almost looked like a one-piece. It was a very old-fashioned style of swimwear, which in that case certainly felt like it matched the very proper butler of steel. But it was still so bizarre to see him in such colors and relaxed attire.

And then a rather interesting thought crossed his mind; one that Ainz put more stock into now that he had both Demiurge and Sebas before him. He considered both Touch Me and Ulbert Alain Odle as his dear friends and comrades but it was no secret among the guild that the two didn't get along particularly well with each other. Primarily this was due to being such opposites, both in-game and outside of it, and while they'd put aside their differences (for the most part) for the good of Ainz Ooal Gown, their rivalry and deliberate competition with each other stretched its way down into the creation of their respective NPCs, designing them to be just as opposite as they were.

If Ulbert knew Touch Me was giving Sebas something like _this_, then Ainz could easily see him giving Demiurge something like _that_. Sadly, he could also see it being exactly the same the other way around.

"Is something wrong, Lord Ainz?".

Ainz could only give a mental sigh at Demiurge's question. "It's nothing. Just…nostalgia."

His comment leaving a somewhat puzzled expression on both the archdevil and the butler, Ainz turned back to the five Homunculus Maids standing in wait for an order.

"Am I correct in that all maids present, minus the Pleiades, are not on vacation with the rest of us? Rather, you are working as staff?"

"Indeed, my lord." The maid Lumière answered for the rest of the group, to no objections. "We are here to fulfill every desire the Supreme One and his Guardians have in order to ensure the most relaxing retreat possible."

"I see." Ainz said, unsurprised. It'd been nearly impossible for him to get even a single maid at a time to take a day off and that still required him to promise the workaholics that they could serve him directly the day after. He had absolute faith in minds of Nazarick's smartest and he still doubted the two would have been able to get an entire group of maids to go on retreat with them. That's actually why Ainz had only specified the Guardians and the Pleiades when he'd thoughtlessly pitched the idea before. Their superiors going on vacation might encourage the maids to do the same eventually.

"Do you have a task for us, Lord Ainz?"

"No, no. Nothing like that. I was merely pondering whether your uniforms were the best sort of clothes for working in this environment." Ainz answered, saying his thoughts aloud.

The maids looked at him and between each other in some confusion. "Do our uniforms dissatisfy you, lord?"

Despite lacking all manner of skin, muscles, or any other aspects of flesh, Ainz's skeletal body was not absent of the sense of touch. Rather, everything was slightly muffled, like his entire body had an invisible glove around it, putting a thin but noticeable barrier between him and everything else. As such, Ainz could feel temperature but had to be in extremes for him to take proper notice. Even the artic wastes of the 5th floor would barely phase him and he'd be fine in the hellscape that was the 7th floor as long as he didn't take a direct hit by a burst of lava or the like. This simulated sun didn't bother him in the slightest but if its rays were too much for Shalltear and Cocytus, how much might the maids be suffering? They were the lowest level NPCs in Nazarick after all.

Ainz heard a splash behind him and turned to it in interest.

"Lord Ainz! You're here!" The young elf girl Aura rushed her way up to him, moving so fast that the water dripping down her hair was almost completely ripped away into the air as she passed. Mare trailed behind her, running as well, though not with nearly the same speed or finesse. In contrast, he was completely dry, likely having just been watching Aura from the shore and not wanting to go in himself.

"Gr-greetings, Lord Ainz." He spoke for the both of them as they stood present before his towering figure.

Ainz beamed happily at the two children. "Aura, Mare. I'm very delighted you were able to make it. Tell me, what do you think of this beach?"

"This place is great!" Aura cheered, arms and fists in the air. "I can swim out way farther on this lake than the one on the 6th Floor and go down way deeper too. I can't remember the last time I got so much room to move around in what wasn't a forest."

"The air is really nice too." Mare chimed in, still sincere but far more contained than his sister. "It stays nice and warm even when I'm reading under the shade."

Ainz laughed merrily. "I'm glad to hear it!" He said, truly meaning it. While he was more of an uncle or a caretaker than a direct parent, Ainz did believe a goal of many parents was to provide their children with a better life than they themselves had had. No child in his old world could have ever experienced such a luxurious place. Most certainly not himself. That he was now able to give the elf twins such a thing that he never had, he did believe there was a surge of warmth flowing through his chest. "Be certain to thank Demiurge and Albedo for all their hard work when you have the chance."

"Yes, lord!" They said in unison.

Taking a moment to observe their attire, Ainz could see the consistency in comparison to what the two normally wore. While he couldn't remember the last time he saw Aura without her dragon scale leather, it was of little surprise that her swimsuit's base was more like tight shorts than loose hanging trunks. If he recalled correctly, Bukubukuchagama had actually specifically told him the reason why she gave Aura pants was because she was planning to make her a Beast Tamer. To wear anything more open would be incredibly uncomfortable while riding an animal. It was a roleplay logic Ainz could appreciate…though he never did get a concrete answer for her putting Mare in a skirt (and quite frankly, he wasn't sure he wanted to dig that deep).

Still, the rest of her outfit was a basic, black, child's swimsuit. This could have been one of the few times Aura actually did look more feminine than Mare…and it would seem Bukubukuchagama had taken that into account as well. Mare's white one-piece covered up more skin than Aura's two, but the bright orange ruffles along his hips and across the straps holding the suit on at his shoulders would have made it no contest all on their own, even without the large, bloomed flowers that sat atop his feet from his sandals. As it stood, with his outfit and timid posture, Mare came across far more like a little sister than a twin brother.

Between Bukubukuchagama and Peroroncino, Ainz had begun to suspect that Peroroncino was simply the less subtle of the siblings.

Ainz momentarily lost in his thoughts, Aura peeked around his side. "Hey, what are they doing?"

Her words regaining his attention, Ainz turned around in curiosity.

If he still had lungs they probably would have leapt out of his mouth. In that case, such a thing might have prevented the panicked scream that exited instead.

The five maids with whom Ainz had just been talking were stripping away their uniforms, some already down to their underwear.

"What-! What are you doing?!" His hands rose to cover his eyes but the emotional suppresser kicked on halfway through; his clearer mind reminding him that's not what a dignified ruler would do and thus he kept them down.

The maids looked back at him in puzzlement. "We believed our uniforms were inappropriate for this beach setting, and so we removed them. Forgive us, lord. Did we misunderstand you?"

"_You think?!"_ Ainz's brain screamed what he did not allow his mouth to. Looking back, he could now easily see how his words and lack of clarification had led them to such a nonsensical conclusion. While Ainz didn't outright look away, he kept his gaze trained in just such a direction that the girls were only in his peripherals. He wasn't sure why this felt worse than seeing them in bikinis, which would be showing about as much skin if not more, but it did. It didn't matter if he was more like a king than a CEO, he was still their boss! It was inappropriate for him to see them like this. Most certainly for him to order them to do it!

"I merely meant that with the overhead sun and the heat I was worried your uniforms might be uncomfortable. If your uniforms are what you feel you can do your jobs most comfortably in, then there is no problem with keeping them on. That is all."

"We see. Thank you, lord. Your kindness is limitless." Lumière said, the others taking a bow along with her.

"_Put your damn clothes back on!"_ Ainz mind screamed as his eyes went to the furthest point in his sockets to avoid looking down their bras. "Pay it no mind. Now please, get dressed."

The maids complied, picking their aprons and dresses back up from the folded stacks they'd laid down on the sand.

"_I glad Albedo and Shalltear haven't caught up to us yet to see this. Who knows what kind of weird ideas those two would have gotten?"_ Ainz sighed, rubbing his face in relief. _"But wait! Aura and Mare! They're way too young to have seen something like that!"_

Ainz turned quickly, fearing the stares of judgment that may have been directed into his back over such a perverse abuse of power. However, the heterochromatic eyes of the twins looked at him only with happiness, having simply been waiting for him to pay attention to them again and now he was. Not even Demiurge and Sebas had changed their expressions in the slightest, like nothing out of the ordinary had just occurred.

On the one hand, this incredibly casual attitude, lacking in all sense of common norms, was the main cause of the maids believing they needed to strip down to their skivvies. On the other, it did allow for Ainz to entirely pretend like that hadn't just happened. And pretend he did.

"Now then, where is next on my tour of this beach?" He asked. The squad of maids dressing themselves were behind him and completely outside of his vision. As such, as far as he and his sanity were concerned, they did not exist at this moment.

"Right this way we have the main lounging area." Demiurge answered him, holding out his arm to direct attentions to the set-up of spread out towels, chairs, and wide, shady umbrellas; located close enough to easily reach the water with a short walk but at enough of a distance that the tide would not splash those relaxing in it.

"We… W-we set up our towels next to your chair, i-if that's alright." Mare said shyly as he took a small step forward, averting his gaze as he was having a hard time looking directly at Ainz.

Ainz gave a small but hearty chuckle. "Of course it's alright." He said to the quickly brightening faces of the elf twins. "Speaking of which, where is my-….."

He'd cut himself off. Just a few turns of his head and Ainz didn't have to ask anymore. He figured it out upon sight.

"Demiurge… I take it you created that…chair, yes?"

"Indeed, my lord! It is honor that you would recognize my craftsmanship at just a glace!"

"_I don't see how I could ever forget."_ Ainz commented, the red lights of his eyes going out, the only way his skeleton body could "close" them and not have to look at the sight before him.

If you were significantly far enough away, it'd look like just a normal lounge chair sitting on the beach. White to reflect the sun's rays and nice and long so that a person could stretch out comfortably.

But sadly, it was not far away. It was only a few meters and thus Ainz couldn't ignore the obvious. Couldn't ignore the many ribs that acted as the chair's surface. Couldn't ignore the large pelvis that acted as the chair's back. Couldn't ignore the human shaped skulls that acted as the chair's feet.

Once more, Demiurge had built him a seat constructed almost entirely out of bones. Somehow, this felt more disturbing than the throne he'd made him for the imitation Nazarick. Perhaps because the sun and beach towels made it stand out far more as something that should not exist in this world.

He could feel Demiurge beaming with pride behind him, making it all the harder for Ainz to think of a way out. Apparently no one else present was aware of what was wrong with this picture.

"_I can't sit on that! What am I supposed to do?!"_ His thoughts screamed at him so loud he was surprised his emotional suppressor didn't kick on again. First the maids, now this! He couldn't escape from this situation the same way as last time. After Cocytus begging him to use his body as a chair, Ainz feared sitting on Shalltear had sparked some very warped ideas regarding punishment in the NPCs, so even if any of them were deserving of it he had no desire to continue fanning the flames of such a mindset.

After a painfully long minute of stressful brainstorming, a stroke of inspiration mercifully revealed itself and Ainz opened his eyes. Clasping his hands together, he turned to the elf twins.

"Aura. Mare. How would you two like to bury me in the sand?"

His question came as quite a clear shock to the two, though Demiurge's mood seemed only to improve at it. "Ah. A wise first choice for relaxation, my lord."

The twins' pleading faces looked to Demiurge for answers, baffled as to why he was so okay with, what was in their minds, basically desecration of the Supreme One's perfect body.

"Allow me to explain." Demiurge said, not keeping them in suspense for long. "According to what I've read, burying someone up to their neck in the sand is a very common activity for the beach, especially for adults to do with children. They can create funny shapes and poses out of the sand while proving sufficiently relaxing for the person being buried, as the sand's blocking of the sun's rays allows it to be cool yet warm at the same time."

"Oh! I get it!" Mare said, the image of the sand like a giant blanket coming to his head, immediately able to see why that would be so comfortable. Aura's odd look showed she didn't understand it quite as much, though to be fair her idea of enjoyment was more akin to activity than staying in bed. Still, it was what Ainz wanted and there was no way she was going to pass up more time to be around him.

Apparently, Demiurge had already considered everything, as he had pails and little shovels at the ready before Ainz even had to ask. Laying down in a spot that would not disturb the lounge area, Ainz closed his eyes and interlocked his fingers across his chest, allowing the two children to start scooping the sand over him. While at first there was the slight worry of particles getting in between his joints, he decided he'd leave that concern for later as he felt the gentle pressure of the sand's weight start to consume him. It was quite nice actually; the sensation being just as Demiurge described.

"When you declare you are done with your rest, we shall then begin the Beach Games, my lord." Demiurge said as he watched over the three, his calm tone making it clear there was no hurry. Sebas wanted to stay but he had a job to do and thus ripped himself away from his master's side to keep watch over the rest of the shore.

Though it took a moment for them to register, Ainz eventually reopened his eyes, picking up on those last words.

"Beach Games?"

* * *

**Author's notes:** This is just kind of a fun, dumb story that I wanted to try out, mostly because of talks on the Overlord Reddit about the series not having its own beach episode, with the closest being the time in Nazarick's spa and the Isekai Quartet beach episode.

For everyone's swimwear, save for ainz, I tried to pull from Overlord connected sources. Albedo and Demiurge's outfit come from the aforementioned Isekai Quartet beach episode. Shalltear's comes from chapter 7 of _Overlord The Undead Oh!_ gag manga. She never wore it but it was an outfit in her wardrobe, so I'm counting it. Aura's comes from artwork So-Bin did for one of the light novels. Mare's comes from the _Little Leaders_ Overlord fanart. Cocytus doesn't wear clothes, so didn't need to do anything there. I haven't described any of the Pleiades outfits yet but they all are from the _Mass of the Dead_ mobile game, so if you Google "overlord mass for the dead beach", it's the first image that pops up.

Sebas is an exception because his outfit didn't come from anything Overlord related but rather from _My Hero Academia_. It's the same swimsuit All Might wore when he's first training Midoriya on the beach. For whatever reason, I thought it seemed like a good fit for Sebas.

By the way, while I've already got ideas for the beach games and activities, I wouldn't mind getting more suggestions for some people want to see, as I easily could have overlooked an obvious one.


	2. Treasure Hunt

**Part 2: Treasure Hunt**

All aside for the resort's staff whom wanted to participate in the Beach Games gathered before Demiurge and Sebas, the table between them holding a large metal Bingo machine. Inside its hamster ball-like cage sat numerous small white balls.

"Many thanks to you all for attending so promptly. Now that we are all settled in, we can begin the Nazarick Beach Day games." The archdevil addressed the group. "Numerous events have been prepared in accordance with the research done by Albedo and myself, all in line with the most common and popular beach recreational activities. Participation is voluntary, of course, but highly encouraged."

Aura looked around at all in the gathering. "Jeez. If we count Gargantua under the water, we're only one short of all the Floor Guardians being here."

"It's unfortunate that Victim was unable to attend but we needed someone guarding at least the 1st Floor, besides just the mobs." Albedo explained. That was the entire reason Shalltear had arrived last, after all; needing to hand over duties to the littlest angel. "And we couldn't even consider requesting Aureole Omega to leave her post along with the rest of the Pleiades. The gaps she'd leave in Nazarick's security would be far too great for anyone else to fill."

The Pleiades closest to Ainz were Yuri and Narberal and thus they were the ones he noticed the small looks of disappointment on, though the features passed rather quickly. Up until recently he'd had the battle maids positioned all over the map. Narberal in disguise with Pandora's Actor as Nabe and Momon of Darkness. Yuri aiding the construction of an orphanage in the Sorcerer Kingdom. Lupusregina watching over Carne Village. Solution travelling undercover among human with Sebas. Entoma helping Demiurge keep up appearances as Jaldabaoth. And CZ playing the part of a "captured" maid for the Holy Kingdom. Very rarely these days did the Six Stars get to be together in one place and it seemed they were somewhat hopeful their seventh would be able to join them.

Ainz felt like a bad boss in the small relief he had hearing that Aureole was not here. A single employee was being excluded from what everyone else was being allowed to enjoy, but the risks were too great. She was the NPC whom managed the teleportation Gates throughout Nazarick and the 8th Floor was where she kept guard over the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown; the very item which, if destroyed, would mean the end of the guild itself (at least, that's how it worked in the game). As nice as he wanted to be, Nazarick came first. He would just have to make it up to her at another time.

"WHAT. SORT. OF. CHALLENGES. WILL. WE. BE. FACING. DEMIURGE?" Cocytus spoke up to ask his question, his breath still a visible cloud even on this warm beach.

"The games will be random events. Some will be contests of strength, others of skill, and some of luck. While they will fit an overall theme, the games selected were ones that the majority of those here will have had little to no experience in prior, as to keep the entertainment fresh and the competition as fair as possible. No one will know the game until it's picked." He gestured at the Bingo machine, making it clear the lottery system would be in use.

The NPCs murmured amongst themselves, the overall mood being one of competitive anticipation. As the air became lighter, Ainz's shoulders were able to ease themselves a little.

"_This actually might help things run smoother than I'd hoped."_ He thought, his caution about level with his optimism. _"The NPCs tend to have a hard time relaxing. They don't know what to do with themselves when they're not working. With these games, they'll have tasks they can do. It's not a perfect solution, but as long as they're having fun and enjoying themselves, I guess it still counts as a real vacation."_

The archdevil then turned to his master. "Forgive me, Lord Ainz, but I will not be participating in the games myself."

"It's no bother, Demiurge. An event such as this requires a coordinator, after all." Ainz assured him. In this case, Demiurge struck him as someone whom would have more fun organizing and conducting his planned games than taking part in them. It reminded him more of Tabula than Ulbert in that regard. The master of gimmicks loved watching the others in the guild react to the details and puzzles he programmed into the tomb. "Though before we begin, I would like to say a few words."

"But of course." Demiurge said with a bow, moving aside so that he may be replaced at the center of attention.

Walking up, Ainz cleared his throat first before he spoke. "Firstly, I would like to thank all of you for agreeing to participate in this experiment of mine. I'm aware the concept of a vacation is somewhat alien and that you may have had to adjust your other tasks in order to be here. You have my gratitude." He said to them all, making sure to continue so that they couldn't start singing him praises or joyously exclaim their devotion to him, as they so often do. "All that said, I must make a genuine request of you all. As I will be taking part in at least some of these games, I must ask that none of you simply allow me to win, no matter how tempting it may be."

The sea of wide, dinner plate eyes was about the reaction he'd been expecting.

"TO. STAND. AGAINST. THE. SUPREME. ONE…!"

"We couldn't possibly-"

"I mean, we'd obviously lose anyway, but…"

"How could we be so disrespectful?"

"I understand your confliction." Ainz spoke up over them, his words instantly getting the crowd to settle back down. "Truly, I am blessed to have such loyalty. However, try to think of it this way: these games are meant for fun and it would hardly be any fun for me if no one is even attempting to give me a challenge. Regardless of whether you think you can give me one, given the difference in our statuses, it'd still be far more to my benefit for you to try than to not. And rest assured, win or lose, there shall be no hard feelings nor penalties towards anyone. These are merely games and I wish for you all to enjoy yourselves just as much as I hope to. Understood?"

"YES, LORD!" The crowd declared in unison.

"_Still a little too militaristic for my liking, but at least they seem to get the idea."_ Ainz inwardly groaned, praying he actually had gotten through to them. "Sorry for taking up your time, Demiurge."

"It is no trouble at all, my lord." Demiurge said as Ainz gave him his spot back as he went back into the group. "Now then, the final event in the games has already been decided on, as it is the most popular beach event and thus will make for the best finale. We shall work through the others in order to reach that one. In the meantime, let us select the first contest!"

At his enthusiastic que, Sebas began to turn the crank of the Bingo machine. The balls inside spun and rattled around, bouncing off each other wildly until one lucky random fell into the cup which then deposited it down the slide, rolling it to the outside where Demiurge could then pick it up.

"And the first game shall be…the Treasure Hunt!" He read the kanji off the ball's side.

"_Treasure hunt?"_ Ainz stood up straighter, his interest peaked.

Demiurge gestured to an area behind the crowd, where two maids a distance away from each other were using strings tied to stakes to create lines in the sand and mark off the large section. "Items and other such objects have been buried beforehand in the prepared area." He explained the game. "Each "treasure" has been given a predetermined point value. Every treasure you find adds to your total score, with everyone naturally starting at zero. After ten minutes have passed, the game is declared over and the player with the most points is deemed the winner. Please note however that nothing is buried beneath the natural bedrock of the 4th Floor, so please do not attempt to dig below it. Once this day is done we'll seek to return this floor to its former glory, as it was so crafted by the Supreme Ones."

A trio of other maids came forward, each one carrying bundles of shovels in their arms, of which they passed out to the participants.

"Once you have your shovel, please take a place at the starting line. Once everyone is ready, Sebas will signal the game's start and then you may go digging."

Following the demon's directions, the NPCs followed behind Ainz (whom naturally was given first pick of the shovels) one at a time over to the line.

Among the flow, the interesting pair of a vampire and succubus walked side by side.

"So, we're in agreement then?" Albedo asked.

"But of course. It's not often we are allowed an opportunity to compete directly with each other." Shalltear answered her back confidently. "It's no grand battle like we may have always pictured, but these games will do."

Albedo gave a short, smug little chuckle. "Lord Ainz has no desire to see his servants shed each other's blood. It's no wonder such a violent little creature such as yourself has never caught his eye."

"Are you so quick to trash talk because you're afraid you'll lose? Well, I suppose you do know the games on the docket so perhaps you already know how badly you'll do at them."

"I organized the construction and staff for this resort. We both did research but Demiurge was the one primarily in charge of managing the games. Don't confuse me with yourself, Shalltear. The person worthy of being the Supreme One's first wife doesn't need trickery to win. She merely has to be the best and thus the most worthy of his love."

"And yet, you still choose to compete against me. How brave."

Among their quipping, noticeably neither of them brought up the wrench in their plans that was Ainz's involvement in the games as well. Given that loss to him was inevitable, they privately decided that their win-loss ratio would only be relative to each other. Whomever wins the most of these games between the two of them is clearly more worthy of the spot of first wife.

The skeleton was far enough in front that didn't hear any of the conversation. Still, he felt a strange sensation, a little like a phantom limb. Why did he feel like his ears were burning? His head was just a skull.

Once everyone was given a shovel and positioned at the starting line, Sebas held up his whistle

"On your marks…get set…GO!"

He blew the whistle and all the players rushed out into the field.

Some like Cocytus and Lupusregina picked a spot close to the starting line, wanting to get digging as soon as possible, so much so that they used their bare hands to do it in place of their tools, while the likes of Aura and Mare went to the furthest point in the area, having more untapped space they could claim for themselves. Most everyone else tried to keep themselves spread out around the area's center, though Ainz noted with some puzzlement how close Albedo and Shalltear were digging towards each other. Wouldn't they risk stealing each other's treasures in that case?

"_I should probably get started too."_ Ainz thought to himself, feeling a slight smile coming over his boney features as all the NPCs seemed to be getting into it.

He picked a spot closer to the shore, kneeling down into the sand and started digging at an even pace.

"Is this from the Holy Kingdom?"

Looking behind him in curiosity, the person Ainz heard was Entoma Zeta, her unmoving false-face poking out of the hole she'd made and arms above her head to hold up what she'd found. Her swimsuit was far more of a robe, with the sleeves going down far past her hands, just like her normal maid outfit would, and within her clothed grasp was a thick, long broadsword.

"Indeed it is, as you can tell by the emblem at the base of the hilt." Demiurge answered her, pointing at the engraving. He then checked the papers on the clipboard he was using. "That right there is worth 12 points."

Ainz looked around, spotting several similar types of items that'd already been dug up. Pieces of armor. A few more swords. Coins of gold, bronze, and silver. All with a familiar air about them.

"_Oh! Oh, that's really fun! I was worried at first when Demiurge mentioned treasure. But little mementos from all the places we've been since coming to this new world? That's actually a really sweet idea. Great job, Demiurge."_

The only thing that still gave Ainz some concern was the inclusion of the coins, which definitely appeared to be real. While Nazarick wasn't as hard up for cash, at least in this world's currency, as they once were, money wasn't a thing he could feel comfortable being too loose with. Then again, Demiurge never said anything about the players keeping what they found, so there was a chance he was worrying over nothing. Even letting just first place keep their stuff as a prize was a cost they could probably afford.

"_I wonder if I should try moving closer to Aura and Mare and place whatever I find where they're working away?"_ Ainz humored himself with that thought as he continued digging. _"I know it'd be a bit hypocritical, since I told the NPCs not to just let me win, but games like these are primarily for the kids to enjoy. I'd love to see the looks on their faces when they win one."_

Just at that moment, the metal of his shovel made a clang, alerting him that he'd just struck something hard.

It was an exciting moment, bring back those old memories of dungeon crawling in YGGDRASIL and stumbling across a chest he and his friends hadn't known was there. What was inside was rarely as memorable as just finding the secret in the first place.

Ainz wondered what he'd just found. But then…

"…_Did the sand just blink at me?"_

It erupted up from the sand all at once, causing Ainz to quickly stand up and back away. Thick, heavy scales stretched smoothly in plates across its entire form, with the body of a rhino and the claws of a mole. The armored head that made up almost half its structure opened up wide, causing it to resemble a shark, before letting out what was clearly an angry roar.

"OH! Lord Ainz has discovered a Bulette! That is an easy 20 points to his score!" Demiurge announced, his words immediately getting the attention of everyone on the resort.

"_YOU HID MONSTERS UNDERNEATH THE SAND?!"_ Ainz voicelessly screamed as the landshark growled at him, clear warning to stay back.

A quick jerk of his head around and he saw that his dig was not the only one to uncover a buried creature. Yuri Alpha had ripped the top off a Mimic chest with her bare hands while Cocytus made short work of an Ogre once it'd stopped gasping for breath. Entoma Zeta had actually found a Bulette as well and had not yet killed it, instead flipping the beast over on its back to watch it struggle like a turtle. What she was likely about to do next as she bent down to it, Ainz would rather not watch. Though it did seem that not all the monsters were hostile.

"What?! How can this Death Knight be worth only a mere 35 points?!" Shalltear screamed at Demiurge, the armor of the rotting zombie laying in the sands behind her so dust-covered it was practically brown instead of black. "Surely a personal creation by Lord Ainz must be worth 100 points, if not be an outright game winner!"

In spite of all the vampire's shouting, Demiurge responded back as coolly as ever. "Unfortunately, this Death Knight was created by Pandora's Actor, not Lord Ainz. The knight's completely unresponsive nature is proof of that, as they are only active while Pandora's Actor is transformed. As such, the point score remains."

Shalltear's shoulders became tight as she heard Albedo laughing behind her back. "Did you honestly believe we'd be so disrespectful as to bury anything of the Supreme One's in the dirt?" She asked arrogantly, the heads of two Centaurs (20 points each) laying at her feet. "Well, perhaps such an instinct only comes natural to you."

What Shalltear yelled back when she turned back around, Ainz really hoped the elf twins were too far away to hear.

The surge in his emotions had receded itself forcefully. It was only the shock of the Bulette's sudden appearance that'd scared Ainz. Given the few seconds needed, he'd relaxed considerably.

Cocytus walked up to him. "MY. LORD. PLEASE. ALLOW. ME. TO. EXTERMINATE. THAT. CREATURE. FOR. YOU. A. SUPREME. BEING. SHOULD. NOT. HAVE. TO. STOOP. SO. LOW. AS. TO. BOTHER. WITH. SUCH. A. THING."

Appreciating the Guardian's offer, Ainz declined. "My thanks, Cocytus, but there is no need. I am immune to all low-level damage. The Bulette can cause me no harm whether I let it live or die. Besides, under the rules of the game, allowing you to kill it instead could be seen as you stealing my points."

Cocytus staggered back. "L-LORD! I. WOULD. NEVER-!"

"Relax yourself, Cocytus. It was merely a joke." Ainz urged him, before turning back to the growling Bulette. That it hadn't already attacked him yet was a curiosity. Perhaps it could sense the sheer difference in their levels.

He could tell his humanity had fallen quite far when his first thoughts were of the waste of MP it'd take to kill such a weak foe instead of feeling any sort of pity for it likely being dragged here from elsewhere. The Great Tomb of Nazarick primarily focused on undead for its naturally spawning monsters, so it was doubtful this thing was a Pop Monster or to have been summoned by any of the Guardians, as his old friends wouldn't have wasted a spell slot on their creations for something so weak.

Just as he was considering sparing the beast, fear seemed to finally overtake the Bulette and it lunged at him to attack with its jaws wide open.

Ainz prepared himself to cast [Fireball], which alone should be enough to finish the creature outright, but just in case it didn't he would be ready with [Fly] in order to get some distance.

But at that moment, a shadow then cast itself over them from above.

Ainz looked up just in time to miss it, as the massive stone limb came down with force tremendous enough to quake the very beach and the Bulette exploded into a red paste beneath it.

The threat neutralized, the arm receded back into the water.

"_That was like a shark attack…"_ Ainz thoughts wheezed to themselves in mental exhaustion as he watched the blood smeared across the stone surface be diluted away with each second it spent under the waves.

"Was that Gargantua?" Mare wondered aloud, not feeling particularly threatened enough by the more literal Sand Shark he'd found to give it his full focus over the Supreme One.

But as he was staring at Ainz, his attention was gained as the familiar shadow flashed across his features, the elf boy turning just in time to see the land-swimming fish smashed beneath the hundred-ton fist.

All those present could hardly fail to notice the earth shaking with Gargantua's hits, let alone it happening twice. Everyone stopped what they were doing but the added attention did not prevent a third monster, a Van Un discovered by Narberal, from being targeted and killed in the same way.

"Is Gargantua trying to play too?" Aura asked, half in confusion and half in irritation, as she had helped Mare find the Sand Shark that was now unrecognizable. "But he's outside the zone and he's not even on the scoreboard. What's the point of stealing everyone's points like that?"

Demiurge, however, stroked his chin in intrigue, clearly seeing the situation in quite a different light. "I see. What a terrifying wit our master has."

Everyone present, including Ainz himself, turned to look at Demiurge, eyes staring at him in utter confusion to his meaning.

The archdevil was more than happy to explain. "Though he is a Floor Guardian, Gargantua is different from us. He is not an autonomous individual but rather a golem that must be activated and commanded. Positioned as the Guardian of this floor, he was given very basic set commands for preventing intruders from going any further in the tomb. Otherwise, when not following that programming, I imagine he has a few common default settings. One of them I'd wager to be to obey his owner, whom in this case is Lord Ainz."

All around him, faces started to light up with understanding.

Every face save for Ainz's, still utterly lost.

"It is why he told us not to hold back against him, for he already held a tremendous advantage. From a certain point of view Gargantua is merely an extension of his will. Not another player or even technically an outside interference. Rather, he is a weapon the Supreme One can set loose upon the field and have claim the prizes for him." Demiurge chuckled, completely in awe of his master's brilliance. "Such a devil of a gamer, to slip through the cracks in the rules and exploit without breaking them. He does not cheat but one of his hands doesn't play fair."

With that explanation filling their heads and soon their hearts, all the NPCs beamed their admiration with such intensity that it would have been blinding if Ainz could bring himself to look at them. As it was, that terrible pit started to develop in his stomach again.

"_You really shouldn't be okay with such a thing, even if it was true…"_

The reality was Ainz had completely forgotten Gargantua had default settings. When Nazarick first arrived in this world and he was worried about the NPCs possibly turning on him, he had runs tests with the golem to make sure it would still obey him. Since Gargantua was basically raw stats and not much else, the tests had to be pretty simple, such was moving in the way Ainz wanted or protecting Ainz best as it could while he cast spells from behind. In those early days of stress, he was grateful that it could be left alone on the 4th Floor without worry.

He hadn't thought about how Gargantua would behave differently if he himself was present vs. not. It wasn't so much that Ainz was controlling the golem right now and more like it was just following its programming from the last time he'd tested him; defend Ainz from all threats while he acted as backrow. Considering friendly fire was off, Ainz supposed he should be thankful none of the NPCs were deemed as threats, considering monsters that weren't even near him had been attacked.

"_I'll try to move away a bit from the shoreline. Maybe that'll help some."_

* * *

A Snakeman was unfortunate enough to be dug up.

SPLAT!

A Caben.

SPLAT!

A Stone Eater.

SPLAT!

A Mimic Chest.

SPLAT!

A Puri Un.

SPLAT!

A Pteropus.

SPLAT!

An Orthrous.

SPLAT!

Another Bulette.

SPLAT!

A Magelos (how were all these things breathing under there? Did Demiurge and Albedo have them in suspended animation until they were dug up?).

SPLAT!

A Petite Biclops.

SPLAT!

SPLAT!

SPLAT!

SPLAT!

SPLAT!

SPLAT!

SPLAT!

SPLAT!

SPLAT!

SPLAT!

SPLAT!

SPLAT!

SPLAT!

SPLAT!

SPLAT!

SPLAT!

SPLAT!

SPLAT!

* * *

"-and at a total of 346 points, the winner of the first beach game, as should be no surprise to anyone with even a crumb of intelligence and foresight, is Lord Ainz Ooal Gown!"

The crowd of servants erupted in applause and cheers at Demiurge's declaration, with none louder than those whom had lost. To even be in the same contest as the Supreme One, what could be the higher honor?

"_I might need to recuse myself after all…"_ Ainz sobbed, wanting so badly to crawl into one of the many holes and never come out.


	3. Watermelon-Eating Contest

**Part 3: Watermelon-Eating Contest**

Thankfully for Ainz, fate decided for him that the next game was one he couldn't partake in anyway.

"Forgive me, my lord." Demiurge sincerely begged of his master, as he had been for many minutes now, ever since the second lottery ball had been drawn. A watermelon-eating contest. "It is my greatest shame that I overlooked such an obvious detail. I should have accounted further for you wanting to participate in the games yourself and not just acting as observer.

The archdevil was down as low as he could go on his hands and knees and Ainz was rapidly waving his hands to signal him to please get back up. The former salaryman could not feel comfortable with someone groveling before him; he and his friends so used to being on the other side of this situation.

"There is nothing you need to apologize for, Demiurge." Ainz assured him as the Death Knights toiled away behind him to clean up the remaining monsters and gather up all the collected items for re-storage. "You were tasked with creating an event composing of the most popular beach games and you did just that. If I'm being honest, I might have been more displeased if you didn't include an event simply because I might not be able to participate. After all, I made it clear that this vacation was not just for me, didn't I? I'm far more concerned whether your fellow Guardians would be able to take part in the games."

Demiurge rose his head back up. "Your generosity is boundless, my lord. I can only offer an even greater vow of servitude in exchange for such kindness, and that I shall endeavor to have each event be filled with such excitement and spectacle so that you never feel like you are missing out. This, I swear."

"Uh… Right…" Ainz's words carried so little conviction behind them. What could one say after something like that? "Please, rise back to your feet."

Demiurge did as was asked of him and was soon back at proper eyelevel. He took a glance over, making certain that the maids and undead were making proper haste as they carted and dragged away the many corpses that littered the area of the first game. To his relief they were precisely on schedule. Just a few minutes more and the second game could begin.

The squeak of wagon wheels made its presence known and Ainz and Demiurge turned to the delivery of watermelons. A sizable mound of them riding within an equally large cart, though locked within an iron cage, curiously enough. Was that to keep them from tumbling out?

The cart was being pulled by another Death Knight. Lacking the feel of any connection to the creature, Ainz knew immediately that this undead was not one summoned by him. It didn't take much thought after to figure out who the knight's controller really was, but that didn't keep him from immediately making his presence known.

He slapped his heels together sharply (which, given he wasn't wearing his usual boots, had to have hurt, right?) and stood with his proud posture straight as could be.

"Greetings to my creator, Lord Ainz!" The Pandora's Actor passionately saluted, his tone and excitement completely at odds with his unmoving, bowling ball of a face.

"_Oh…no…"_

The floral print was what caught his eye first.

It was unfair. It was too judgmental. He knew that. It wasn't his creations fault he was as cringey as he was. It was his. He knew this. But still…

"_Why are you wearing the same outfit as me?!"_ Ainz internally bellowed at his creation.

He supposed he couldn't be too upset, at least not rightfully so. Odds were that the beach attire was something he himself gave him. Even when it came to gag items, such low-level equipment wasn't exactly uncommon in YGGDRASIL. There was a strong possibility Ainz had obtained more than one and gave the other set to Pandora's Actor to hold.

Still, that didn't make it any less embarrassing. Same shirt, same trunks, same sandals. Race differences aside they were practically mirror images of each other, to the point that the sunlight reflecting off the doppelganger's rarely hatless head made his creator self-conscious over his own baldness for the first time since he'd been placed in his Overlord avatar. He was a shapeshifter. He could have looked like anything…and he'd deliberately chosen to look like his father.

"Ahem…well…you're looking well." Ainz finally spoke, making the attempt to at least be polite.

"I could not be better, my lord!" Pandora's Actor said back, still keeping his hand glued to his forehead because he lacked the sense to know his salute had gone on for far longer than necessary. "I can barely keep myself still in anticipation of this day's end."

Ainz cocked his head slightly at that statement, a little confused. Did he not like being here and couldn't wait to leave? His tone said otherwise but could he be forcing that for his sake?

"_Pandora's Actor still obeys me like all the NPCs do, but he's also shown he is more willing to question me compared to them. Maybe because he's my creation he feels more comfortable to do so?"_ Ainz remembered their conversation back in the Sorcerer Kingdom, where Pandora's Actor pushed him a little further than Albedo and Demiurge had in wanting to know the direction he planned to take their new public kingdom, and in fact was kind of the entire reason Ainz finally forced himself to make a decision. _"If I'm being honest, it is a mentality I want the NPCs to have. It's dangerous for them to just accept everything I say without question or to never offer any ideas of their own if they have better ones than mine."_

A terrible knot started to form again in his non-existent stomach. _"What if none of the NPCs are enjoying this beach vacation but Pandora's Actor is the only one brave enough to say anything to me?"_

"What happens at day's end?" Ainz asked, doing his best to hide the guilt in his voice.

"Why, the clean-up, of course!"

The doppelganger gave an answer Ainz didn't quite expect.

"…The clean-up?"

"Yes indeed, my lord!" Pandora's Actor said again, still not putting his hand down. "So many items and materials used for the treasure hunt alone! So many yet to be unveiled for further games! The assistant butler and the maids have already staked their claim in dismantling the food hut and bar and restoring this beach back into the proper 4th Floor. But all the materials used to build it…! All the items and scrolls used to construct this place and to create the games…!" He finally lowered his hand, only to drape it dramatically across his face, allowing only one eye to peek out. "They shall need to be properly cleaned by an expert and cataloged away in their proper places."

"…Oh."

It had nothing to do with not enjoying the vacation and everything to do with Ainz's poor ability at writing character settings.

He'd designed Pandora's Actor to have a liking for sorting, cleaning, and organizing magical items (the rarer the better) so that it wouldn't be strange for him to be alone in Nazarick's treasury for long stretches of time. But unfortunately, likely due to bad word choices, that enjoyment seemed to have been raised to the level of a fetish and his creation was a bit too obsessed; uncomfortable with being away from the treasury or its items for too long. That he was almost ecstatic at a mess being made so that he'd be allowed to reorganize the items again…

Was it crueler to alter his settings now that his personality had been set and become real, or to leave him the way he was? It was a moot question, as Ainz's admin perks had been left behind in their old world and had no way of making any changes to the NPCs. If he did, he'd have already freed Albedo from the curse he'd unintentional placed upon her.

Speaking of whom, it was only because his back was to her that Ainz took no notice of smoldering glare the succubus had trained at Pandora's Actor from such a distance away. Nor the towel she was biting to smother her jealous rage.

"The…! Same…! Out…! Fit…! How…! Dare…!" Were just a few of what Shalltear was able to pick up as she stood beside her. Quite frankly she couldn't tell if Albedo was angry at Pandora's Actor for wearing the same clothes as their master, whom obviously looked far better in them, or if she was angry because she hadn't thought of it herself and it was too late to change.

"It's not that big of a deal." She made the casual attempt to calm Albedo down. "Lord Peroroncino left me with plenty of different styles of clothes and equipment. In all likelihood, Pandora's Actor is only wearing the same outfit because it was a similar kind of gift from Lord Ainz."

Shalltear had never heard a towel tear so loudly and Albedo still had half of it hanging from her teeth.

That was her clue to back up and give Albedo some space. Just as well. Perhaps this would throw off her rival enough to help her win the next challenge.

In the last game the two had received the same number of points. That isn't to say that they tied with each other. Rather, because they were digging so close to each other and constantly digging into each other's treasures, it was assumed that they were working together and thus all points gained were attributed to both of them. Neither scored higher than the other because both shared the exact same points between them. Aura and Mare had the same problem because of how much she'd had to help him.

Shalltear clenched her fist determinedly before herself.

"_This time I'll win for sure!"_

* * *

"As stated, our next games shall be the Watermelon-Eating Contest." Demiurge explained to the crowd on the now immaculately clean beach. Not a glint of coin or a drop of blood to be spotted anywhere. "The rules of this game are self-explanatory. Simply catch and consume as many watermelons as you can. Once five minutes are up or all the watermelons are gone, the game is over and whomever has eaten the most is the winner."

No one spoke up about any confusion and took the moment to spread out across the wide field, as not to get in each other's way.

Ainz breathed a little easier. _"This one at least should be pretty normal. Eating watermelons on a hot beach. Even I can see the logic in that. Why not turn it into a game?"_

"…"

"_Wait… Catch?"_

His brainless mind finally registered that word as Sebas gave a swift kick to the wagon's side, though not hard enough to break it. Once he did, the entire thing started to shake and rumble violently, like its cargo had just been woken up.

"…_.Noooo."_

Demiurge undid the lock on the cage, using his hand to keep the lid down. "Let the second game…begin!"

He threw the lid up and outward burst the torrent of light and dark green stripes. Though as the storm of spheres bounced their way towards the players, a bit of blinking red was added into the mix, as the watermelons finally opened up their mouths to show off their teeth and the insides of their bodies.

"…_I don't know why I expected any different."_

He didn't feel any trigger from his emotional suppressor. Apparently his body had already given up on having an adequate reaction to such a surprise.

The melons didn't stay on a completely straight path. With no arms, legs, or wings, they could only move by bouncing. For some, this meant their paths ended very quickly, as the pillow-like sand absorbed their kinetic energy upon landing and gave none back in return, leaving them almost completely stuck in one spot. But for others, they were able to maintain and even build on their momentum as they bounced off each other, sending them off in different directions and turning the thick stream of melons into a wide cloud of them.

"[Fireball]." Narberal cast her spell without hesitation and from her outstretched hand shot forth a single wide volley of flames. For those in the world outside of Nazarick, where even the idea of breaking into the 3rd Tier was just an untouchable dream for most, what might they think of this woman using one of its most powerful spells so casually? But for the Battle Mage, [Fireball] was not even a drop in the bucket for the heights of magic of which she was capable and the melons that had approached were instantly vaporized.

The maid watched the ashes flutter down to the sands. Her expression showed no change but she did seem somewhat pleased with herself.

…Unless she registered that it was ash fluttering down to the sands. Not bits of melon.

A gust of wind followed the swing of an axe beside her and Cocytus had split a single watermelon clean in two.

"AN. IMPRESSIVE. ATTACK. TO. BE. SURE. BUT. THIS. BATTLE. IS. MORE. THAN. THE. DESTRUCTION. OF. THE. ENEMY." He said to her; his lower two arms catching the twin halves before they could hit the ground while his upper two stayed at the ready for combat. "IF. THERE. IS. NOTHING. LEFT. OF. THE. MELONS. THEN. THERE. IS. NOTHING. LEFT. TO. CONSUME. I. WONDER. IF. LORD. AINZ. AND. DEMIURGE. ARE. TRYING. TO. TEACH. A. LESSON. THROUGH. THIS. GAME?" After his siege against the Lizardmen, he made an effort to at least try and see the Supreme One's meanings in what he asked of them, to ensure he didn't fail his master again.

Narberal stared again at the ashes, clearly annoyed with herself that she'd overlooked such a simple yet important aspect. She'd destroyed at least four watermelons but couldn't receive points for any of them because of her mistake.

Still, there was plenty of time and melons left in the game, and as Cocytus chowed down on the melon he slayed, Narberal's golden staff popped into existence within her hand, following his lead.

Ainz stroked his chin, having observed all this from the spectator's place on the field's side, his interest somewhat sparked.

Looking over to another part of the chaotic "battlefield", as it were, he managed to spot Mare, swinging his wooden staff wildly around him; the timid and awkward elf hitting nothing as the melons bounced all around him.

A long silver whip lashed out from the side, Ainz recognizing it as Queen as it wrapped around a single melon and sharply yanked it over to the weapon's owner.

"You know, Mare, it's a lot easier to hit a moving target when you have your eyes open." Aura remarked to her brother casually as she cracked the melon open like an egg against her knee.

Mare's ears drooped down a little further. "I-…I know." Looking at the two of them, no one would guess that Mare's strength in battle actually far surpassed his sister's, and in fact most of the other Guardians'. But his skill laid in spells and he currently wasn't allowing himself to use any.

The sands slowing the bounce of one melon enough to where he couldn't possibly miss, Mare took another swing and managed to hit it. The tip of the staff struck and the fruit exploded like a balloon filled with red paint.

It was a bit all over the place but there were still enough whole chunks for Mare to pick one up. He had a disgusted face, like he really didn't want to even touch the sticky rind that was held between his two fingers, but soon laid it out across his hand and dug his teeth into the melon anyway.

Finally he had a point to his name but he was still well behind Aura, whom was already finished cleaning the insides of hers and spotted her next target off in the distance. Why she wasn't choosing any of the melons closer was likely due to her experience as a ranger and her instincts as a hunter. In regards to catching the most she could, she likely could tell just at a glance which prey would be worth her time and which would take up too much of it.

She was barely a blur as she zoomed past another whose points were quickly climbing up. Yuri Alpha, having already summoned her gauntlets forth to cover her fists. While nothing much could be said for the speed at which she could eat the melons, which was about on par with what the average person could, if not less so due to being an undead, her strikes were taking out melons at a far faster rate than almost any other NPC. Like any proper fighter trained in martial arts, there was an unseen circle of awareness that surrounded the maid's body, and anything that entered that circle, no matter from what angle, was swiftly taken out.

Once she had no more immediate targets headed her way, Yuri used the opportunity to scoop up some of the melon bits so that she may eat them. However, before she took her first bite her attention was nipped a bit by the sound of giddy laughter.

Turning her head and she spotted the eldest of her younger sisters, Lupusregina Beta. Or at least, the back of the massive sunhat she was wearing. Its width blocked the near entirety of what she was knelt down to look at. Whatever it was it had her bubbly as a drunk.

Moving so that she could see around the Lycan's shoulder, Yuri could make out the heavily splattered remains of at least one melon.

Lupusregina's palm then glowed green, casting magic that Yuri needed a minute to recognize.

The 6th Tier Spell [Heal]. Evidently the watermelon had not been dead, just near-so, and thus its insides filled back up as its rind pieced itself back together.

The creature's eyes were small, practically dots that were no bigger than its own seeds. Still, from such a close distance one could see it blink in confusion at its own continued existence, so certain was it that it had been dead.

The melon took in its surroundings as its vision slowly became more solid.

It then finally took notice of Lupusregina looming overhead.

Instead of attacking like its fellows, the melon immediately tried to flee and Lupusregina instantly smashed it. With how quickly she moved, there was no way she hadn't been waiting for exactly that moment.

Once again it was an eruption of immature laughter that spilled out of her mouth, only causing Yuri to raise an eyebrow at her.

"Lupu, you are aware you don't get multiple points for the same watermelon, yes? Especially when you still are not eating it."

"Yeah, I know." Lupusregina smiled, arms folding behind her head, barely bothered. "But come on, Yuri, it's funny! It keeps forgetting I smashed it up until the very second it sees me again! You saw its face!"

Just the memory of it caused her to start laughing again, doing so so hard that she fell over backwards and off her feet, though that did little to diminish her enjoyment.

Hands on her hips, Yuri just closed her eyes and shook her head. She supposed there was no harm in letting her sister have her fun, even if the sight was a little undignified.

With that, Yuri went back into the game, watching Cocytus and Narberal as she ate her melons down to the rinds. At first the two appeared to be neck and neck but soon it was clear Cocytus's kills were quickly building up ahead of the maid's; more comfortable with weapon-only combat.

"_I see. The NPCs with wide Area of Effect attacks are actually at a disadvantage in this game."_ Ainz noted, very impressed that such a simple contest had a little more depth to it than had seemed at first glance. _"They can target a lot of melons but they end up completely destroying them. Those built for precision and close combat have the edge in that case because they have more control."_

Which that observation in mind, Ainz's gaze searched around until he finally spotted the familiar flash of the skewering Spuit Lance. The number of discarded rinds around Shalltear gave a good idea to how many melons she'd gone through before the one currently on the other end of her weapon.

The vampire took notice of her master observing her and a lustful blush came over her grinning face.

"You may as well give up now." She called back over her shoulder.

There was more distance between them than had been for the treasure hunt (just in case of a repeat) but they were still close enough that Shalltear didn't have to raise her voice much for Albedo to hear the words directed at her.

Her bardiche was sticky from the juices of numerous watermelons, showing off the work she'd put in. However, her pile of rinds was notably smaller than Shalltear's. It already would have been much to Albedo's irritation even if Shalltear wasn't jumping at the chance to rub it in.

"Lord Peroroncino created me for combat and being the Guardian of the first three floors means I have the most combat experience on top of that. If I didn't have any other beings from Nazarick in the way I would have gone through every melon on this field already. While you're sadly just the tank and with the speed and coverage to match. Oh well…"

Shalltear beamed vindictively, lance resting against her shoulder, prideful in how much she seemed to have gotten under her rival's skin.

But then, breaking a crack into the vampire's confidence, Albedo gave a smirk.

She said nothing and simply lifted up her arm.

Shalltear's eyes bugged out wide from her head. Hanging on by their teeth alone were three watermelons, all across her arm's surface. The fruits were growling like hungry dogs and clearly biting down as hard as they could but none of them were penetrating her skin. It was rather safe to say that if she couldn't see or hear them, Albedo wouldn't have registered their presence at all, as they weren't causing her even a tickle, let alone any pain.

Her black wings spreading out behind her and Albedo revealed a collection more of gripping melons; three on the left wing and four on the right.

"Oh dear…" Albedo said with mocking sympathy to her rival. "Well, it's alright, Shalltear. There's nothing wrong with always having to be the one to chase after others, instead of the other way around. I'm sure it's just your looks that are off-putting and not your personality."

One could almost see flames spit out of Shalltear's mouth, a sign to Albedo that her words had done a very good job.

Truth be told, she didn't exactly like having any being other than her beloved touching her body, even creatures as simple and mindless as these melons. Still, it helped that their hunger wasn't of the lustful kind (her blood boiled at the reminder of Philip) and what was about to happen next would give her some minor revenge.

With three straight slashes, the bardiche ripped through the melons covering her within seconds; not a single one of their bodies even slowing the blade's speed.

The fruits had been sliced apart with such power that one of the halves flew all the way over to where Ainz stood, landing just a few feet before his toes.

The smell hit him before he even tilted his head down.

"_God! It's like rancid meat!"_

With all the chaos around him, this was the first time Ainz was allowed a proper look at the inside of one of the watermelons. Admittedly, fresh produce like fruits and vegetables was something most of the markets in Ainz's old world couldn't even afford, let alone the common people, so it wasn't like he himself had ever gotten to have real watermelon. But the people of his world were more than familiar with the sight and smell of something long expired and there was no other way to describe this. The redness was only because of all the juices that somehow still ran through it but the actual flesh…err…_fruit_ of the melon was almost completely black, with the hue of the discoloration varying based on proximity to specific blotches and spots.

Where the rest of her melon had been thrown hadn't gone unnoticed by its chopper and Albedo rushed to swipe up the offensive sight from her master's gaze.

"Hey, Albedo, wait…you don't need to-"

Too late. The words had barely started leaving his mouth by the time hers dove into the fruit's redness. There was quite a bit of messy splatter, causing crimson to splash across her cheeks; a feature that Ainz now realized was shared amongst nearly all the NPCs.

"_Yep. There it is."_ He remarked, finally feeling the sweet relief of the suppressor. He believed this was the first time it'd ever activated over him wanting to throw up. How would that even work with this body?

When she was finished, Albedo looked back up at him from her crouching position, eyes wide with pride and her wings flipping like a happy dog would wag its tail. From her perspective she probably believed she looked like a good and proud hunter, hoping for praise from her master. But from Ainz's, the heavy panting and redness all around her mouth made her look like a carnivorous beast, still cooling down from the rush of the last kill.

"Uh… Good…job?" He muttered, having trouble finding any words that wouldn't betray how freaked out he was.

Her face brightened immensely and Shalltear, even with her great total of melons, felt the blow of falling behind.

She quickly turned back around, frantically scanning for new targets. "I'll show you! Even if it takes a hundred more, I'll slay them all and-!"

The whistle blew loudly, instantly cutting through the chaos of the field.

"That's enough. The game is concluded." Sebas declared, now that he had everyone's attention.

"What?!" Shalltear exclaimed.

"So soon?!" Albedo did the same. There were exactly one hundred watermelons in that cart when the game started and it hadn't yet been five minutes. How they all be gone already?

Demiurge took the center. "And the winner, at a total of forty-six melons… Solution Epsilon!"

He gestured his arms to present her to the crowd but such a move was unnecessary. Standing beside the demon was the golden haired and third oldest of the Pleiades (tied with Narberal, as the guild members could never make up their minds as to who they wanted to be older between the two). The swimwear of each of the battle maids reflected the style of what they'd typically wear and Solution's was no different, with her rather small orange bikini emphasizing considerably more on sex appeal than her sisters' did. Though some might feel that aspect was dimmed a bit by her body's current condition.

Solution had gained a bit of height, mostly due to the considerable expansion of her stomach, which was not only quite a bit lumpier than usual, but now also transparent, allowing Demiurge and Sebas to count the exact number of still whole watermelons soundlessly screaming inside her.

"Well done, Solution. I did only say that the watermelons had to be caught and eaten." Demiurge praised her, having to tilt his head back a bit in order to see hers. "Killing them was never a requirement and it seemed that saved you quite a bit of time."

"My thanks, Demiurge. I have a lot of experience capturing my prey alive." Solution said with a bow, or at least an attempt at it. Her upper torso just seemed to slide down her belly with no sign of motion from the rest of her body. It did though give her a better eye level at which to watch the melons start to bubble and steam inside her, her slime body finally wearing away at their rinds through her sheer acidity. When the melons increased their struggles in frantic desperation, making it clear they were feeling the horrific burns she was causing them, a very wide, almost orgasmic smile spread across her features.

"_Forgive me, Herohero, for what I've allowed to be done to your prized creation."_ Ainz closed his eyes to the reality as he sent that wordless plea to his long-departed friend. _"Then again, if you could see us, would you even be awake enough to notice?"_ It was a bad sign when even a person's in-game Black Elder Ooze avatar appeared just as tired and overworked as they were in real life.

* * *

**Author's notes: **In volume 8 of the light novels, the Sous Chef mentioned that YGGDRASIL had tomatoes that could glow when cut, explode, and/or attack people and how surprising it was that they were growing just regular tomatoes on the 6th Floor, so such creatures apparently weren't that uncommon. If we can have man-eating tomatoes, why not man-eating watermelons too? Or at least that's my justification for having such a creature in this story.


	4. Sand Sculpture Building

**Part 4: Sand Sculpture Building**

"Sand sculptures? Not sandcastles?" Ainz asked curiously, the third game having just been drawn and announced.

"Originally the competition was going to be sandcastles. However, we felt that was too limiting." Demiurge happily explained. "If the idea is for the players to make the best art that they can, then it feels more proper to be allowed the freedom to craft whatever they feel would be to their best ability. Though if you'd prefer sandcastles, we can most certainly make that change immediately."

"No, no, it's quite alright. It was merely a question of interest, not a complaint, and your explanation was more than satisfactory."

"As you wish, my lord. As it is, we seemed to be blessed with good fortune. If it were any other game we'd have the beach cleaned first before we'd start. But in this case, the watermelon juices should actually aid in the sand sticking together, thus more stability for the sculptures. Quite the luck of the draw."

"Um…yes. It's as you say…"

The same sight that his subordinate was so pleased over was one Ainz was having trouble not comparing in his head to the march of his "Baby Goats" across the Katze Plains. It probably wouldn't look any less bloody if they'd used normal watermelons instead of monster ones.

"_It's like someone littered the beach with those ink blot tests therapists use, only they forgot the paper and had to make do with something else."_ Ainz dryly quipped his bad joke to himself as he kept his gaze just to the left of were the fruit massacre had taken place. He'd have never known before today that sand could be stained so easily.

With everyone gathered back together, Demiurge turned to address the crowd once more.

"As I stated before, these games would include a variety of factors, including skill, which specifically is what this next event will entail. You have ten minutes to construct a sculpture out of sand. It can be of anything you want and you may use any materials you find so long as the main structure is of sand. Once time is up, each sculpture will be judged by quality and craftsmanship. Naturally, the creator of the best sculpture is declared the winner.

Looking over all the faces, Ainz could see the gears turning in the NPCs' heads; their eyes taking the sands around them and mentally constructing shapes only they could see. If he was being honest, he was quite looking forward to what everyone would make.

"_At least this game isn't about killing things again."_ He muttered to himself, hoping such a thought wouldn't trigger a flag. Even now he could just imagine the sculptures coming to life and attacking when this was over, just to screw with him for having hope.

Sebas raised his hand up before his face, completely still, as a signal for the others to remain the same.

"And…begin!" He threw the hand down with a chop.

The game was on, and with that the NPCs dashed across various sections of the beach, finding secluded spots to begin their masterpieces.

"Lord Ainz, will you be participating in this game?" Demiurge asked, noticing plainly that he'd not moved from where he stood.

"Uh…hm…no. No, forgive me, but I shall be sitting this one out as well." Ainz politely declined. _"I don't think I could handle the embarrassment."_ His thoughts immediately went to the lumpy and misshapen Avatara statues in the Mausoleum. He wasn't alone among his guildmates in lacking artistic talent but Ainz felt he'd be very close to the bottom if they all were to be ranked. He didn't trust he'd have more luck with sand than a CPU.

"In that case, would you be willing to be a judge for this competition?"

"A judge?"

Demiurge nodded. "Indeed. Sebas and myself were already planning to be judges but there is likely to be disagreement at some point between the two of us, based simply on personal taste. Having a third party to act as tiebreaker would help things run significantly smoother."

Ainz looked over to Sebas, the butler standing beside Demiurge and giving a nod of his own, apparently having been thinking the same. Ainz understood their point well. Ulbert and Touch Me were very much at similar odds when trying to decide what the guild's next adventure should be. That said…

"_I can't help but feel you both are just going to agree with whatever I say."_ A cynical thought that was more than likely the truth.

Still, he couldn't really think of a reason to turn down the offer and accepted.

Unintentionally, he set off a flag.

"_Twitch, twitch." _Went Albedo's ears as she overheard the conversation.

"_Lord Ainz shall be the judge of the competition?"_

Observing the works of her competitors, while they weren't far along yet it was clear what each statue was aiming to become, with the hardest details to match being the skeleton's face. And they didn't even know he was judging yet.

"_In any circumstance, Lord Ainz would obviously be the perfect subject to sculpt. His form is already a work of art."_ She swooned a little, redness splashing across her cheeks as she imagined that flawless body underneath those trunks and shirt. Thankfully she was quick to snap herself back to her senses. _"However, Lord Ainz is not a narcissist, though no one could blame him if he was. Statues built in his image to show devotion are so common that even the humans have done it. But if we're talking about a form that'd appeal to him the most personally, then there's only one choice. Well…technically forty."_

The succubus bit her bottom lip and squeezed a handful of sand tightly within her palm. In all honestly, if she didn't need to win she would far rather make a statue of her beloved than those pieces of trash. It'd been long since they'd abandoned them and yet they still had such a hold over the last of the Supreme Beings. Try as hard as she and the Guardians did, she could tell Ainz hadn't ever been truly happy since the others left.

Still, it had to be done.

"_If I can't make Lord Ainz, then I'll have to go with the one whose glory comes closest to his: Lord Tabula Smaragdina."_

Despite her misgiving about her creator, he was the immediate thought that came to her mind. He crafted her and her sisters from nothing, filled the Great Tomb with many of its hidden aspects, and was the scholar who provided such a wealth of knowledge to Nazarick's library, no doubt so generously sharing a mere fraction of his own. Despite what he did to Lord Ainz along with the others, it couldn't be refuted that he was the next most perfect among the Supreme Beings.

"_Lord Tabula's image is a guaranteed win for me. But I need to make certain not to miss a single detail. Any sloppiness and Lord Ainz would likely take horrible offense. So…"_

She didn't have to look far. The slits within her golden irises found their target, her feet kicking up sand behind her as she made an immediate dash to the one person who could help secure her victory.

Pandora's Actor, in the middle of counting and cleaning all the coins gathered from the treasure hunt, felt a pair of strong hands grab his arm, gripping onto him like a vice.

Then, almost at the exact same time, his other arm was grabbed too.

Three pairs of eyes (or at least two and a couple of empty black sockets) looked at each other in a triangle of wide surprise. The doppelganger's head jerked back and forth between his left and his right, with Albedo on one side and Shalltear on the other.

"…Yes?" His head cocked comically, speaking incredibly casually despite his confusion.

The two women paid him no mind as once again thunder cracked between their glares.

"What do you think you're doing, Shalltear?"

"Me? What about you?! Did you go for him the second you saw me heading over? I'll bet."

"As if. You're so short I don't even see you half the time when I am looking for you."

"I'd far rather have my petite figure than go around as a gorilla. Now, if you don't mind, I have business with Pandora's Actor."

"Oh? And what business is that?"

"Like you don't know."

"If you can't come out and say it, then it clearly can't be that important. Now, if _you_ don't mind, I have orders for him."

"I need him to pose as Lord Peroroncino!"

"I'm the Overseer of the Guardians. My orders take priority and I'm ordering him to pose as Lord Tabula for me!"

"You're going to abuse your position just because your art skills are so lacking? How petty."

"My skills have no flaws in them. It's simply that Lord Tabula's form is so divine that it's impossible for the mind to hold all his glorious features. Only a being crafted by a Supreme Being to hold all their images would be able to replicate his form anywhere close to the original."

"Sounds like an excuse. But if that's what we're going with, I clearly need Pandora's Actor more. Lord Tabula's body was smooth and long. There are far fewer details that you have no excuse for not remembering. While Lord Peroroncino had feathers! And not a single one out of place. I couldn't dare disrespect my creator so by not getting the number of feathers right or their lengths!"

As the two continued to argue, a small noise started to break through their chatter, slowly getting just the smallest bit louder, until they finally had to take notice.

It started as a chuckle and smoothly morphed into a low, almost villainous laugh, full of such amusement and just a hint of arrogance.

It was coming from Pandora's Actor. With how his head hung, the shade hid his eyes and his full expression.

"Such a humorous contradiction. You both clearly respect my skills, and yet you underestimate them so greatly."

Albedo and Shalltear were quieted, both looking between each other and him, unsure of his meaning or what was about to happen next.

This momentary puzzlement was all he needed and thus his slender limbs slipped out of their grasps in an instant, giving them no chance to catch him again as he leapt back by about a foot. However, he did not use that as a chance to run away.

His fingers draped across his face as his body contorted in the most bizarre of poses. To say he was going for drama would be an understatement.

"I am Pandora's Actor! Crafted by Lord Ainz himself, greatest of the Supreme Beings of the guild Ainz Ooal Gown! I was made to be the greatest actor in the world! In any world! And my skills are far from limited to mere racial ability. Behold! As through sheer performance I embody the essence of two Supreme Beings at the same time!"

His body expanded and stretched out on its own, his very flesh and clothing discoloring, soon resembling clay. The lumpy texture that had been the doppelganger shifted, twisted, and slithered at various angles, the purpose of which only clear once the body started to solidify once more. To say color had come back in was both correct and yet not. His skin no longer resembled clay and now was far more like that of a drowned corpse; sickly white with only random blotches of purple to break it up. The near featureless oval face had been stretched in six directions down past the now bent backwards knees, the three holes replaced by the body of a squid and a black occult mask over that.

Both Guardians nearly took a step back in shock, despite knowing beforehand what they'd see. Albedo most especially, for it had been so long since she'd last seen the form of her creator, the impact still just as strong as when Pandora's Actor had done it before in the Treasury.

Lord Tabula Smaragdina, before her once more.

With divine purpose, the right of his two long, slender limbs slowly raised itself.

The hand then sharply snapped upwards, closing fast and giving a single thumbs-up with his webbed fingers.

"Eroge is life." Came Peroroncino's voice from under that mask, with a proud twinkle in his eye to match.

"**I'LL KILL YOU!"**

Pandora's Actor gave a leap back again and this one was very much out of fear, his arms jumping up to protect himself as he could practically see the flames spilling out the eyes of both Albedo and Shalltear.

A strong hand then forcefully grabbed his shoulder.

"You! Come with me." Ainz demanded, pulling him aside.

"Oh! Fath-! Lord Ainz!" Pandora's Actor said bashfully, reverting back to his original form. His mind quickly gave not a thought to the wrath his creator had just saved him from, and just as well the women were fast to snap out of their rage the second their master appeared.

"You both," Ainz addressed them. "Please, go back to what you were doing."

"Yes, lord!" They'd said in unison but Ainz was already dragging his creation away.

"My lord, did you see that?" Pandora's Actor asked. "My popularity may be on the rise! I've never had two women fight over me before! And I didn't even need to be a cat this time!"

Ainz kept his eyes forward, refusing to look back at him yet. It took all of his willpower not to hide his face behind his hands.

"_I know it's my own fault, that I didn't give you enough common sense along with all your weird quirks."_ He berated himself internally. _"But come on! You can't possibly have this low a level of social awareness!"_

He brought Pandora's Actor over to Demiurge and Sebas. Finally releasing him, Ainz got close to his face to make certain he'd understand.

"Listen. I need you to fill in for me as judge for the sand sculptures."

The doppelganger brought his hands up to his oval mouth, completely beside himself with flattery. "Me? To fill in once more in a role that only my creator has occupied before!"

Ainz knew he was referring to Momon. Frankly, with how surprising well and subtle his performance was as the hero of E-Rantel, it was quite tempting to order Pandora's Actor to stay in that character all the time.

"All those within Nazarick are the children of my dear friends and thus I consider them children to me as well." He quickly made up a reasonable sounding excuse. "There's no way I'd be able to choose between you all, even in a simple contest such as this. Thus, I require someone who can be more impartial when it comes to just the sculptures alone."

"I see." Pandora's Actor whispered, a thoughtful tone coming out of his blank expression. "Yes, I quite understand. You've explained to be before the desire to not appear to play favorites. Even I, whom you allow to call you father, must do so while we are in private, as not to irk the envy of others. Such compassion! It makes the love feel all the more precious!"

The cringe gave way just for a moment to allow a stab of guilt into Ainz's heart. While he'd defend that anyone in his position would feel and do the same, there were plenty of moments of shame within him over how he treated his creation. Again, none of Pandora's Actor's faults were of his own, and all he wanted to do was please him, like any child would for their parent.

"_I'll make it up to you someday. Just not today."_ Ainz gave that wordless promise to the oblivious devoted son.

He turned back to the other two. "Demiurge, is this change alright with you?"

"My lord, you need but say the word and your will be done. While of course no one could ever take your place even in a game of telephone, we will glad accept whomever you choose as our third judge."

He said that happily enough, though Ainz couldn't help but suspect some disappointment. Nothing against Pandora's Actor, mind you. The NPCs just had a predisposed preference for being told what to do and what opinions to have, rather than any determination to be masters of their own minds. At least, when it came to the Supreme Beings.

* * *

And so, at the end of the time limit, the judging began.

* * *

"I. WISHED. TO. EXPRESS. THE. SUPREME. ONE'S. OVERWHELMING. STENGTH." Cocytus stated, standing before his sculpture.

"_My arms are bigger than the rest of my body."_ Ainz remarked as the practical tree trunks of limbs stood beside the main body like Cocytus had attempted to make three sand sculptures at first and ended up combining them into one.

* * *

The next sculpture had several monster corpses buried underneath its base.

"My thanks for letting me use the remains of what we killed in the first game." Narberal said to Pandora's Actor.

"Of course! It is the decree of the Supreme One that we let no part of the animal go to waste. But your message?"

"I wished to show that any insect that dares to get in Lord Ainz's way will be stepped on and gone without even a moment's notice."

"_That does explain the trail…"_ Ainz commented with tightly closed eyes, a practical breadcrumb path of scattered limbs behind the sculpture. A+ for creativity…he supposed.

* * *

The next Ainz was lying down on its side, in a very, how should we say…provocative pose, like it was posing for a drawing in someone's private collection.

"…_Why am I naked?"_ Ainz asked, both impressed and mortified by the well-molded sand pelvis.

"I wanted to express a side of the Supreme One we all desire to see." Solution explained her intent, her own body having slimmed back down to normal.

"Excellent use of resources." Demiurge commended her, referring to the regurgitated, half-dead, rindless watermelon that acted as the orb in the sand-Ainz's stomach.

* * *

"This one does have something of a soothing nature to it." Sebas expressed.

"I wanted to combine two of my favorite things." CZ Delta stated so plainly.

"_I feel like it'd be more soothing if my face wasn't ruining it."_

The maid's sculpture was much smaller than everyone else's, CZ having made a cat instead of a full person…though one with Ainz's skull balanced atop its slender shoulders, sporting a pair of neko-ears to complete the look.

Pandora's Actor hid well the joy doing backflips within his chest.

* * *

"I wanted to show off Lord Ainz's coolness! Nobody messes with Lord Ainz!" Aura declared excitedly, pumping her fist in excitement.

"_Where did she get the sticks from? There are no trees on this beach."_

Her Ainz sculpture was covered in enough bare branches and spikes to resemble a porcupine. It definitely embodied what a kid's idea of "cool" was.

"_Then again, who am I to judge that?"_ He added, his constant reminder of his Chuunibyou phase standing right beside him.

* * *

"W-! Wow…!"

The words couldn't help but escape Ainz's mouth. It was uncanny, like looking in a mirror. In fact, in this case, he himself felt like the poor imitation, feeling underdressed and missing parts he should have, as the sculpture was made to look like it was clothed in Ainz's usual robes and God-level items.

To the sculpture's left was another. A slightly twisted mass that was thick at its base and its top but thin in the middle, the large, bulbous head almost seeming to defy gravity as it somehow didn't collapse under its own weight.

To anyone not of Nazarick, this imitation likely just appeared to be a large misshapen blob. But for Ainz, it was the two thick seams across the sculpture's head that told him instantly who this was. The lips of his fellow guild member that'd too often open up to say _"What do you want to do today, Momonga onii-chan?"_ in that damn little sister voice she'd made a career off of.

Bukubukuchagama the Unsinkable. Slime Shield of Ainz Ooal Gown.

What little pride Ainz had in the Avatara statue he'd made of her, this sculpture sank it like a blast from a cannon. There was no comparison. With how the watermelon juices staining the sand was spread out, it even almost resembled her avatar's natural pink color. Were it not for the lack of the constant motion from her fluid body, he would almost think his old comrade was standing right before him.

The sculpture of Ainz and the sculpture of her would have been enough. But they weren't all there was. For in the space between them…

…was the Great Tomb of Nazarick. Its entire surface level, at the 1-inch scale.

"This is incredible craftsmanship." Sebas said in sincere awe, down close to the ground on his hands and knees so that he may look closer at the center building, taking great care not to accidentally collapse the outer walls that kept Nazarick hidden from immediate view on the grassy plains.

"Th-thank you." The craftsman himself, Mare, said, timidly hugging his staff as he kept his head down, occasionally sneaking peeks at Ainz even though he was not one of the judges.

Demiurge stroked his chin thoughtfully as he studied Bukubukuchagama. "Were these created using your earth magic?" He asked, it being the most obvious conclusion he could come up with.

Mare nodded.

"Really?" Ainz said in surprise. "I didn't know [Earth Surge] and the like could even work on sand."

"It's a little more difficult at first to move, a-a-and it takes a bit to get used to. But it's actually easier to get it to take the shapes I want because it's less stiff than dirt and stone."

While he was an official Floor Guardian, Mare had somewhat of a secondary job acting as caretaker of the 6th Floor. With his earth magic he could keep both the jungle and more open areas very organized and clean, while still having enough control as to not knock over any trees or even disturb the Green Hole, the village they'd set up as an experiment on that floor. All that work seemed to have served as unintentional practice for this game. None of his competitors or even the judges had noticed his spellcasting during the entire ten minutes.

"I was just going to make Lord Ainz at first. But then I saw Albedo and Shalltear making sculptures of their creators and it made me really want to make one of Lady Bukubukuchagama. Then when those were done, I made a little Nazarick because they'd need a place to live." His ears then drooped down a little lower. "…I'm sorry. I know, it's stupid. This Nazarick is too small for them to live in, but I didn't think of that until time was out."

"NONSENSE!" Mare's ears shot straight up and even Ainz nearly gave a jump as Pandora's Actor shouted that. "Art is about more than just looking the part. It is about capturing the essence of the subject as well as conveying your own feelings regarding them! To us mere creations, are the Supreme Beings not larger than life itself? How could mere walls ever hold in their full power and awesome presence? This scale is not inaccurate, for you crafted our masters as you see them! Gods and titans inhabiting a world they tower over! OH! And to use the very earth magics of which your creator gifted you in order to create a monument of your devotion to her! Such a brilliant detail!" He fell to his knees, both hands over his heart. He almost seemed like he'd be weeping, were it not physically impossible for him to do so.

Demiurge looked back and forth between the butler and the kneeling doppelganger. "Am I correct in assuming we are all in agreement?"

Sebas gave a single strong nod and Pandora's Actor shot back up to his feet in salute, making his approval clear.

With a nod of his own that he understood them, Demiurge cleared his throat and raised his voice just enough so that everyone could hear him.

"Our victor is clear. The winner of the third game is Mare Bello Fiore!"

The applause wasn't as strong as it'd been for Ainz in the first game but it did still have its enthusiasm. Not one single NPC there would deny the beauty of such artwork of the Supreme Beings, not even those who had lost. Quite frankly, the only damper on them was the feelings of failing to give their own such shows of devotion.

Mare blushed and partially hid behind the thickness of his staff, not typically one to enjoy being at the center of attention. That being said, there was one person he snuck quite a few peeks at.

"What… What d-do you think of them, Lord Ainz?"

Ainz's attention was caught away from the image of his guildmate by the young elf boy's question.

He gave him a smile and placed his large hand upon Mare's scalp, giving him a loving head pat.

"You did a wonderful job, Mare. I'm very proud of you."

He believed he'd read in a book somewhere how important it was for children to receive positive reinforcement after working hard on something, especially from people they look to in a parental role. It seemed like such an obvious thing but Ainz supposed that's why adults took it for granted and didn't do it often enough. Hopeful his pride would help Mare feel more pride in himself too.

Though due to his height and still being mostly focused on the impressive sculptures, Ainz didn't notice how Mare's face paled the moment he touched him, before then rapidly going as red as possible.

It seemed the lord of Nazarick greatly underestimated the power of his head pats.

* * *

Albedo and Shalltear watched the sight from afar. Were it not for the lack of their natural auras, the two sculptures could almost be mistaken for the real Ainz and Bukubukuchagama.

They then looked back at their own.

Tabula appeared to be melting, with half his mask already crumbed away down his body. Three of his six tentacles were missing along with both of his arms.

The feathers Shalltear had attempted to etch into Peroroncino with her fingernail resembled more that someone had taken a hatchet to the sculpture, leaving scars and marks everywhere. His wings were nowhere to be seen.

They looked back at Mare, crimson as a tomato and looking like he was about to pass out.

They fell to their hands and knees, burying their faces in the sunbaked sand.

"_We're a disgrace to our creators!"_

* * *

**Author's notes: **This was partly inspired by one of the Overlord a la Carte chapters, where Mare, Aura, and Shalltear paint portraits of Ainz and it turns out Mare has some decent talent when it comes to art. Just needs the right motivation, I guess.


	5. 200 Meter Swim

**Part 5: 200 Meter Swim**

It'd gotten to the point that Aura could easily tune it out if she wanted, so common a sight had it become.

The two only other female Floor Guardians bickering and having it out before then immediately gushing over the very person they were fighting over and trying to drag him into their spat. She could see the three of them from where she stood and it didn't take elven hearing to get the gist of what was being said from past experience. Albedo was fawning and declaring she wouldn't lose. Shalltear was fawning and declaring she wouldn't lose. Ainz was trying to get them to settle down.

Pretty much everyone present on the beach knew they could ignore them with no issue.

Except…Aura was having some difficulty doing that this time.

She took a glance over at her brother. His hand was rested atop his head where Ainz had patted him and had been so for several minutes now, like he was trying to reclaim and savor the phantom press of that skeletal touch. Given the gentle smile across Mare's shy face, it seemed to be working.

A bit of heat filled Aura's cheeks and she found her hand tightening into a ball.

"_No, I'm not jealous! Of course not!"_ She vehemently denied to herself, furiously shaking her head. _"But…"_ She finally stopped herself. _"I haven't exactly been winning either."_

By now it was obvious Albedo and Shalltear were having their own little competition between either other, using the games to see who could best prove themselves to Lord Ainz. This wasn't a mentality that was difficult to comprehend. All those whom exist within Nazarick were created to serve the Supreme Beings. The list of those who wouldn't want to be praised by them was an empty one.

The Supreme One had won the only game he'd participated in so far, which was obviously how it was always going to go. But Gargantua had been allowed to aid Lord Ainz in achieving his victory. Then Solution won the second, getting to be the first servant of the day to prove herself. Now Mare had won the third and been given Lord Ainz's personal congratulations, as well as…

She shot another glare over at her brother. She really wanted to tell him to stop touching his head. It was annoying her.

Only two people out of the large group had won so far. Only three had gotten to prove their worth to their master. It was a tiny minority. Yet Aura couldn't help but feel like she was falling behind.

"_I want to be praised by Lord Ainz too..."_

The repeated clanks of plastic against thin metal was heard, causing Aura to look over as Demiurge had just drawn the newest Bingo ball.

"Our next game shall be…the 200 Meter Swim!" He declared.

"_Swim?"_ She thought, catching that last word. Immediately, the archdevil had gained the fullest of her attention.

Out in the depths of ocean, both of Gargantua's massive arms rose up out of the water. In his two hands were gripped two poles long enough to fit such titanic mitts, with a lengthy red banner unfurling to stretch across the distance between them.

"The banner Gargantua holds is exactly 100 meters away from the starting point on the beach." Demiurge explained. "As such, to the banner and back will be a total of 200 meters. This game will consist of only a single lap. You must simply complete the lap and run back up onto the beach to hit this bell." He gestured at the small bronze bell Sebas placed down on the table beside the Bingo machine. "The first to do so will be the winner."

It was a simple enough challenge. Just a simple test of physical fitness and swimming ability. It wasn't as complicated as artwork and it didn't require as much skill as hunting. Either you could do it or you couldn't.

"Please note that in order for it to count as swimming you must be at least touching the water. As such, use of flight is prohibited." Demiurge added on. Anyone who was paying enough attention would have noticed Albedo's wings droop from a slight loss in their enthusiasm.

As the archdevil went over a few more basic rules and questions, Aura felt the life start to flow back into her blood.

When it came to her fellow servants of Nazarick, there were plenty whom were stronger than her. More adept at fighting. More adept at defense. Could deal more damage. Better at one-on-one. And so on. But when it came to traversing terrain, be it land, sea, or through the treetops themselves, it was practically flying when she did it. Bukubukuchagama had crafted her to be unmatched in any area a Ranger should excel at.

Aura clenched her fists tightly before her body, feeling completely fueled by her determination.

"_Alright! I'll win this game for sure! I'll show off my strength and get praised by Lord Ainz!"_ Her thoughts declared themselves, Aura flaring her nostril so intensely she nearly felt the heat of steam blast through them.

Ainz, from where he stood, took notice of the elf girl's intensity, like her willpower shrouding her body in a veil of fire.

"_Wow! She must really like swimming!" _He smiled, pondering some ideas for getting a community pool built in Nazarick, before remembering the 6th Floor already had a lake that was probably better than what they'd build anyway.

* * *

Everyone took their positions at the starting line, their gazes firmly fixed on the swaying waters directly ahead. Each participant had their hands on the ground, with their waists raised up and a single leg pulled back. The perfect form for a starting dash.

Each participant…save for Mare, whom timidly had both hands and knees glued to the ground, much to Aura's annoyance. Yes, she wanted to win but she had to have shown her brother how to do a proper run at least a hundred times. Why wasn't he getting it?

"_Wouldn't that kind of pose be a bit cruel for Mare, given his usual attire?"_ Ainz thought, noting the elf boy was probably very used to running with a skirt on. The orange frills of his bathing suit likely didn't feel much different.

Like before, Sebas held out his steady hand, commanding everyone to wait.

"On your marks…get set…GO!"

He threw his hand up and the runners blazed past it. The soft beats of feet against sand filled the air before the first dives into the water made themselves heard.

So soon after the splashes and it did not take long for the race to get interesting.

"HELP. PLEASE." Those remaining on the shore looked over to spot the intense series of splashing coming from just a few meters into the water. It was Cocytus, his calm tone not matching at all with his frantic body as it tried desperately to keep himself afloat. It seemed he's given the race an honest try before realizing very quickly it wasn't working for him as the other swimmers shot past his non-advancing form.

Having gotten proper attention now, he ceased his struggles and started sinking like a stone.

Sebas was quick to dive in after him, finally getting the chance to act as a real lifeguard. He wasn't alone either, as participating in the race was Narberal, now reversing direction to go help.

Seconds later and all three were back on shore. Ainz had to cover his mouth to keep himself from laughing. He felt bad about it, of course, but…

Well, you see, Cocytus' body was so naturally cold that it seemed to dip the water around him into temperatures well below zero. So when they got out of the ocean, Sebas' beard and Narberal's ponytail where completely stiff and coated in ice that hung straight down off their faces. It didn't seem to bother either any. Their resistance to cold was far too high for that. But the casual attitude they kept while in such a state made it even harder not to let any giggles slip.

"Are you quite alright?" Sebas asked, his face crackling and icicles breaking off as his mouth moved.

"YES. YOU. HAVE. MY. THANKS." Cocytus said, though keeping his gaze primarily fixed to the ground, clearly feeling quite disgraced. "FORGIVE. ME. THE. LIZARDMEN'S. LAKE. IS. MUCH. MORE. SHALLOW. I. CAN. WALK. WITH. NO. ISSUE. THROUGH. ITS. DEEPER. SECTIONS. THIS. DIPPED. DOWN. FASTER. THAN. I. HAD. ANTICIPATED."

"Naturally, even a lake of this world is nothing compared to one created by the Supreme Beings. It was made to keep others from going on to the next floor. There is little to feel ashamed of." Narberal told him, knocking the hardened ice off the sleeves of her open grey hoodie. It was odd that she'd kept it on while swimming but if it was a gift from Nishikienrai then it was only natural that logic came second in comparison to feeling honored by her creator.

While Cocytus appreciated her words he still kept his head low. He could not bare to meet the eyes of his master, even if Ainz himself didn't see it as that big of a deal.

"_I doubt I'd do much better, even if I did know how to swim. Didn't our own undead forces struggle the first time against the Lizardmen in big part because of the terrain?"_ He pondered those words as an attempt to cheer Cocytus up. Neither of their bodies were exactly designed for moving through water._ "Though admittedly we were also deliberately handicapping ourselves._ _The lake wouldn't have been as much of an issue if we'd just frozen it during the battle."_ This was a large reason why he didn't fear any revolt if the Lizardmen ever learned of this weakness. They knew full well the kind of power Cocytus wielded and any repercussions they receive if they ever attempted to drown him. Be in the Floor Guardian himself or reinforcements from Nazarick, the Lizardmen's ecosystem could quickly be turned completely inhospitable.

Still…that didn't change that fighting in water was an issue. A lake was one thing. Would they be able to rely on similar strategies in an ocean battle? Even with 10th Tier and above magics there'll be times when the arena simply can't be warped to their advantage. Would they still be able to tough it out just with their usual tactics? Ainz's hand stroked his chin.

"Is something the matter, my lord?" Demiurge asked.

"Hm? Oh, no, it's nothing. I was merely thinking that since we're planning on creating training halls for Adventurers anyway perhaps we could set up a [Gate] at the Holy Kingdom's shore so that the recruits could get some practice swimming as well. I have no plans on making the Adventurers Guild part of the military but it does occur to me we are somewhat lacking in naval power. We don't know how well the Lizardmen fare in saltwater, so it'd be foolish to rely too heavily on them, and air superiority with the dragons may only carry us so far. It's not the most immediate priority, since the Sorcerer Kingdom does not border an ocean, but…"

"It's still a very wise precaution to make. Truth be told, Albedo and myself were thinking of something similar as of late and were hoping to get your permission to conduct experiments with the Ghost Ship."

"The Ghost Ship?" It hardly took much thought for Ainz to know what Demiurge was talking about. His collector's spirit had soared more when they'd acquired that than when they'd taken over E-Rantel itself.

A rickety old ship like one might see in an old pirate movie. Its arrival announced by the cloud of thick fog it emitted and manned by a crew of the undead. Such a thing wasn't unheard of back in YGGDRASIL but what had intrigued Ainz most was that normally such ships spawned as a result of old ships sinking on large bodies of water (or so the stories go). But this one originated from the Katze Plains, a location completely inland. Given that hardly anyone back in the game (or at least among the members of Ainz Ooal Gown) knew of a consistent way to get a Ghost Ship to appear or whether the entire ship was even considered a monster or an item, Ainz's heart practically danced over now being the owner of such a rare find. It was the flag of the Sorcerer Kingdom that now flew atop its mast.

"We were hoping we could find a way to replicate the Ghost Ship and make more, especially if we can first confirm how well it handles on the ocean." Demiurge explained his request. "It would give Nazarick its own navy while still being completely manageable from our inland location."

"_I get it. Because they can travel on land too we can keep the ships close and deploy them at our convenience. We wouldn't have to worry about learning too late that something's happened to them while we're so far away from the water."_

It was a well thought out idea, though what captivated Ainz the most was simply the idea of hundreds of such rare ships in his possession. He, Ulbert, and, of all people, Yamaiko's little sister Akemi, used to talk all the time over Nazarick having its own armada, joking and laughing over all the "evil" they'd abuse such a power for, to the point they must have seemed very childish. But…it most certainly was fun.

"It's an intriguing proposal, Demiurge. You have my permission. Though I do ask that you limit your tests as to not damage the Ghost Ship beyond repair. We do only have the one at the moment, after all."

"But of course, my lord! Thank you for indulging me! The history of the Katze Plains has already given me many ideas for how to test the spawning without effecting the current ship in the least."

"_History? Did there used to be a lake or a river there or something?"_ He thought curiously. The Empire and Re-Estize had held war after war there for so long. Maybe that's because it used to have a fresh water source nearby they could use? Is that how a sunken ship got there?

He'd ask about it later and for now just focused on the race.

Just thirty meters in and already Aura was pulling ahead of the rest of the pack. Her front crawl kept her pace steady and the water shooting past her ears like a roar. She could hold her breath for quite a while and only pulled her head up for air when she believed it wouldn't affect her speed. When she did, she took that quick second to peek at the competition behind her.

To little surprise, the closest to catching up to her was Albedo. Neither of them were the strongest amongst the Guardians when it came to direct combat but they were both deceptively fit, far more so than one would think looking at their bodies. Albedo's body seemed as soft as you'd expect from a succubus but it took muscle to be as good a tank as she was; muscle that was now being applied to push her through the water at incredible speed. The black wings which one might have thought would be a hinderance did little to slow her down. In fact, was she using them to help propel her a bit more every now and then? It was hard to tell from Aura's angle. If she weren't so used to the outdoors and traversing various terrain, she feared the gap between the two of them would be a lot smaller.

Behind Albedo and further from catching up to her than she was from passing Aura was Mare.

Again, the twin sister felt the twinge of irritation in a vein across her forehead.

Mare was in third place because of his stats and only for that reason. His swimming form was TERRIBLE! He was doing the doggy paddle to keep his head above the water and he still looked like he was seconds away from going under and drowning!

As expected, the elf boy's place in the race was soon overtaken by another. CZ Delta, and to add insult to injury, she was not exactly swimming.

The automation gripped the sides of the innertube she wore around her waist to keep it secure as her legs kicked underwater to propel her forward. It was a very simple way for someone who didn't know how to swim to still enjoy themselves in the water.

…The difference here being that CZ's legs were kicking so rapidly she was a little rocket through the waves, unintentionally spraying Mare as she blasted past him and left him in her dust…er…seafoam.

"_She's like a motorboat."_ Ainz commented; the only one present who'd know what to accurately compare her to.

Everyone else seemed to be placed in order according to their respective levels. Lupusregina in fifth. Solution in sixth. Yuri in seventh. The only reason Narberal was so far behind the other Pleiades she outleveled was because she'd only just now joined back into the race.

And Shalltear was…trying.

The race had started off pretty well for her, being about even with Aura and Albedo. But soon everyone started to pull ahead of her while Shalltear's speed slowed considerably, having trouble pushing herself forward.

Ainz couldn't help but notice the struggles. He remembered hearing that in certain folklore vampires couldn't cross running water or even stand to be touched by the stuff because of its purifying qualities. He wasn't aware of any kind of racial penalty like that in YGGDRASIL but this was a new world and it'd be foolish to assume he knew how everything worked here just because he'd played a game.

He called out to her. "Shalltear, is everything alright? Do you need Sebas to come a get you?"

"N-No! Everything's fine!" She called back over her own splashing as she tried to keep her head afloat while keeping the rest of her body hidden under the surface. She tried to sound calm and in control but she was desperately squeezing at her chest to try and wring out all the water it'd taken in, only for it to backfire and suck in more like a sponge. She took on more and more weight and started getting dragged down through the surface.

In the end, Sebas had to go in and get her. Only the saltwater could mask her tears of shame.

* * *

Aura was nearly at Gargantua's arms, just seconds away from crossing the banner and then making the turn to go back. By the time Albedo reached the same point, she'd already be significantly ahead in the race and halfway back to the shore.

The elf girl's heart beat loudly in her ears. Not from exhaustion but from anticipation. She couldn't allow herself to get cocky yet. But it was a real possibility. She might actually win this thing!

At that moment, perfectly timed to crush her dreams, a blur shot past Aura. The sheer wind from the object's speed sent ripples through the banner as it passed between Gargantua's arms.

Only once the rocket turned around could Aura tell what, and specifically who, it was.

Entoma Vasilissa Zeta. Crouched down on all fours and running ON TOP of the water!

Her arms and legs were moving too fast to be seen. All that could be made out was that they were much thinner and bent at angles most humanoids were not meant to achieve.

"What?! No-!"

Before Aura could protest or complain, Entoma passed by her again, unintentionally (or perhaps very intentionally? It was hard to tell with that unmoving expression) splashing the elf girl in the face with the wave of water her speed kicked up.

"_Like a Gerridae…"_ Ainz commented as he watched with his jaw hanging wide open as the bug maid zipped past one opponent after another on her way back to shore. _"Now that I think about it, it was Genjiro himself who showed me those videos about Water Striders… I guess he must have liked them more than I thought…"_

Infuriated, Aura impatiently forced her way past the banner before immediately giving chase. Compared to her speed prior she was easily moving through the water twice as fast now. It was a basic idea for any race. Pace yourself for the first half and give it everything you've got for the second. By the time Albedo passed the banner as well and made the turn, Aura was already halfway done, just as she'd predicted.

But the unseen variable shattered her prophecy and the victory that'd been within her sight, as the echoing clang of the bell announced Entoma had already made it to shore. Aura moved through the water like it was air but what a difference the lack of resistance in actual air had on a body.

Aura made it to shore just seconds after she did. But at that point, second place might as well have been last, for all the difference it made.

* * *

"Well, I suppose you did follow the rules as I laid them out." Demiurge said; an exasperated yet still amused sigh coming through his words. "The winner is Entoma Vasilissa Zeta!"

The crowd still clapped politely enough, despite some misgivings over her victory, with Cocytus being the most enthused. Who was he to judge how one had won the race when he'd barely made it in? Shalltear, the only person whom placed almost as low as him, was nowhere to be seen. She and her brides had rushed back to her quarters on the 1st Floor almost as soon as Sebas had finished fishing her out, apparently needing to get (or more specifically, replace) something.

Ainz then took notice of Entoma staring up at him, arms crisscrossing into the opposite sleeves, holding themselves as she seemed to be pleadingly anticipating something.

"Uh…well done." He said, taking a stab at what he thought she wanted and reaching down to pat her atop the head. His guess thankfully right on the money and maid leaned further into it, making a squeaking purr he was pretty sure no human could naturally produce.

Back at his old company, the top executives had once had a lavish office party to celebrate the new record in profits the business had made that year. The catering was very fancy and undoubtedly expensive. While none of the drones had gotten to participate, Ainz remembered well the cooks wheeling down that huge cart of bright red crab legs to the party room.

Entoma's hair was basically what he'd imagined those outer shells to feel like and he tried not to think about why that was any further.

* * *

Off just a little bit away, Aura was down on all fours, face buried in the sand, Mare patting her on the back in "there, there" motions to try and cheer her up.

* * *

**Author's notes: **This chapter was much later than I had intended because I let myself get distracted by reading through the _Rising of the Shield Hero_ light novels. …That's it. That's the only reason. Overlord wasn't just a gateway for me into other Isekai anime but also other Japanese light novel series. I'm completely up to date on Overlord and Konosuba and at vol. 9 of RoTSH.


	6. Break for Lunch

**Part 6: Break for lunch**

Aura wiped her mouth for what had the be the fifth time in as many seconds. She was leaning in so far over the grill it was amazing none of her drool had yet fallen in to add to the delectable sizzles of the grease.

"Come on…! Hurry…! I can almost taste it…!"

Cixous smiled happily, the elf's excitement being completely infectious. If given the direct order she would without hesitation take one of the patties right off the grill for her superior. But for now, both had to wait, the seductive line of burgers not quite ready yet. They'd only just been flipped after all.

When a layer of cheese was added to half of the number, Aura looked like she might faint as she watched the sweet nectar slowly melt across their tops.

It was a small collection of maids that worked and worked away on the other side of the grill, their speed only outmatched by the Sous Chef behind the bar. Cocytus and Demiurge had barely just sat down on the stools before the mushroom-headed heteromorph had their drinks out in front of them on the counter. It certainly helped that the two were his most frequent visitors to the 9th Floor's actual bar, but that he knew the instant they arrived what they'd want, threw the concoctions together in a flash of hands, and did so all while giving instructions to the maids assisting him with the cooking showed just how much skill his creator had blessed him with.

"Leave the onions on for only 30 more seconds."

"Yes, chef!"

"Cut up more cucumber for the sushi and use less avocado."

"Yes, chef!"

"Put more tea on and get the ice ready. Miss Yuri will soon be requesting a different blend."

"Yes, chef!"

"Give the burgers a light press. We don't want to lose the flavor."

"Yes, chef!"

All this while he mixed together a variety of fruity cocktails. Perfectly proportioned chilly drinks to bring out the most of one's experience under the hot artificial sun. He never even looked in the direction of the other works beside his own going on underneath the roof of the snack shack, yet his seeming omnipotent awareness of all that was happening around him made it clear that the Sous Chef was a master within his domain.

Still stirring drinks, he heard the small clink of glasses, one of the best compliments a man like him could receive, as Demiurge and Cocytus gave a toast to the day. Anyone with an untrained eye (or literally anyone in the world outside of Nazarick) would have difficulty identifying exactly what the two were drinking, only that they had to be very different mixes.

For Cocytus, a frothy blue liquid so light in color it was almost transparent, yet near impossible to see through with how fogged the outside of the glass became. Drinking it down, his large tusks tapping lightly against the mug's surface, he set it back down when the level was less than half, exhaling a breath of satisfaction, the cloud of solid air somehow even thicker than usual. If one were to stand too close they might find their skin cracking from the cold.

For Demiurge, a concoction so red it was practically glowing, baring so much resemblance to the lava from the depths of the 7th Floor that it seemed impossible the glass wasn't melting away in his hand. The secret behind how this alcohol came to exist was known only to the bartender and it was one he was only willing to share with a Supreme Being, so much did he value it. The demon drank his share down slower than his fellow Guardian but his approval was just as clear.

Sous Chef made no attempts to suppress the pride welling up in his heart, nor hide it from himself. He was fulfilling the exact purpose his creator had instilled within the core of his being. What could possibly make him happier?

Well…he supposed there was one thing, the Myconid admitted, as he took a glance out from under the shack's shade.

There, standing at the shore, was he, Lord Ainz Ooal Gown, staring off in the distance to the horizon. With his hands holding themselves behind his back as he faced forward, he was the very portrait of dignity and magnificence.

…A portrait slightly muddled by Albedo and Shalltear fawning over him, but they were easy enough to ignore.

The body of a Supreme Being was nothing short of perfection. Not a single resident of Nazarick would ever deny such a fact. That included the Sous Chef.

That did not, however, mean that there were not the occasional wishes for certain differences in the Supreme One's form, as blasphemous as it was to think such things.

Lord Ainz was an Overlord. A skeleton mage of unrivaled magical power. He had no flesh that could be fatigued. No stomach that needed to be filled. No muscles that needed to be fueled. Eating was a requirement and a weakness he did not possess, and while that in and of itself was a good thing, how was Sous Chef, whose existence was defined by cooking and bartending, to show the Supreme One his devotion?

He was not a warrior like Cocytus and Shalltear. Not a tactician like Demiurge and Albedo. Taking all deeds into account, even a Homunculus Maid in the furthest corner of Nazarick provided Lord Ainz with more use than he did. Sous Chef would never find fault in how his creator had made him, most certainly not. But he was still a servant of the great tomb. If he could not be useful to a Supreme Being, then what was the point of him even existing?

Though his eyes (wherever they resided on his fungal cranium) never left Ainz's back, Sous Chef continued to mix drinks with incredible precision, sliding them over to a team of maids to be distributed to any on the beach whom desired them, while giving more instructions still to those in his kitchen.

"_How vast his caring for his subjects must be."_ He thought to himself as he looked towards his master with awe. _"He cannot partake in a single bit of this lunch hour, yet he stands over there completely undisturbed, insisting that everyone else take in their fill. He has no need of anything. A truly untouchable being."_

He looked back down towards Demiurge and Cocytus, neither of the two seeming to have noticed his daydreaming. All things considered, it was probably them Sous Chef felt the most envious. Not only did they fulfill the duties their creators had given them as Floor Guardians, but both also served important roles for their master in the outside world as well. How relaxed they were at this moment certainly gave the impression they had no worries about their job performance.

"_If that is the case, if I can only serve the Supreme One indirectly by serving his other followers, then that is what I shall do."_ He felt the surge of determination flare up within to give his body further life. _"Recognition is not needed, so long as it is he who benefits in the end."_

For a moment, Sous Chef felt he began to understand his friend Éclair's obsession with cleaning, if only a little. Any small part of aiding their master was still aid nonetheless, be it cooking for his fellow servants so that they may continuing their more important work for him unimpaired or keeping the great tomb free from any filth that may offend the eyes. He had no delusions that food and drinks would place him on the level of the Supreme One (the one aspect of his friend's character he, like all others in Nazarick, could feel nothing but disgust for) but he did now believe he could see where Éclair's high sense of worth came from.

"_In serving the others, I can serve him."_

With the smallest turn of his head, Shalltear, offering herself as a lap pillow for Ainz (who ignored her), became the center of his view.

"…_Even if it's her."_ Sous Chef added reluctantly, silently hoping despite those words that he'd never have to see that woman in his bar again.

* * *

"…And it's done!" Cixous declared, inserting the small, skull decorated flag into the top of the bun to signal the dish's completion.

"AAAHHHH!" Aura practically squealed as the full tray was slid over to her. Double beef patties with golden cheese oozing out from between them, stacked high with lettuce and tomato and nestled comfortably between two toasted bun halves. On one side a tumbling pile of fries, skins left on, and on the other two pickles for the contrast, with a large glass of cola in the corner to top of the perfect spread. How many times in the past had she had this exact same meal? Far too many for her to bother keeping count and she was far from sick of the taste yet. If it wasn't for Ainz's orders that everyone try to maintain a balanced diet, she'd have this every day; breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

"We'll be sure to have more waiting for you by the time you finish." Cixous smiled to her, beyond pleased that a Floor Guardian was so overjoyed over the work she'd done for her.

"Sounds good to me!" Aura cheered with a fist up to the sky before whisking the tray off the counter with one hand. Despite the speed, not a drop of the cola even attempted to leap over the side, showing off the elf's incredible sense of balance. Even with the tray sitting atop the tips of her fingers not a single fry tumbled out of place, nor did a part of the burger slide. In another life she would have made for an excellent butler.

Hurrying back to her and Mare's selected spot on the beach, she could hear a gaggle of squeeing as she got closer. It was hardly a matter of difficult thought as to where it was coming from and whom the many bodies were that were making that sound.

See, not all the maids on this floor were currently tasked with slaving away in the snack shack. Some had been assigned by Demiurge to clean up the mess from the previous games and set up what was needed for those that remained, while others went to Sebas for general beach assistance. In both cases it allowed for the maids to roam a bit more freely along the beach. Though at the moment the good majority of them were gathered around a certain section, one which housed a large picnic blanket spread across its sands, sitting upon which were the Pleiades Six Stars.

Why was this such a big deal? Well, how often do you get to see your idol group up close eating lunch?

"AHHHHHHH! She's so cute!" Fifth and Etoile held each other hand in hand as they, like many of their sisters, were fawning primarily over CZ Delta. The combat maid paid them little mind, simply enjoying the chocolate shake she sucked up through the straw and the fur against her thighs of the small fluffy animal in her lap. A cat that'd been seen every now and then around Nazarick, though only Ainz seemed to know where it'd come from, having charged CZ as the animal's caretaker whenever it visited. A job which she was more than happy to take on (though many speculated that he did this so that she'd stop harassing Aura's pets and Éclair whenever she was craving something cute). It was a perfectly ordinary cat, the only odd thing about it whatsoever being the oddly familiar military cap it wore atop its head (had the cat swiped it from the treasury guardian?).

It was a mix of how each member of the Pleiades felt about the swarm of attention. Some, like with Narberal, it was difficult to tell one way or another, simply seated down on the towel staring off unblinkingly into space, mouth slightly ajar, like she was not even aware of her surroundings (only her sisters knew her well enough to know this state was a sign of how relaxed she was), while Lupusregina was joyously soaking it all in, playing against a small handful of the Homunculus Maids in a card game she'd learned in Carne Village.

"Aww! I lost again!" Foire pouted, her hand having been completely miserable.

"You're amazing, Miss Lupusregina!" Lumière congratulated her on winning the pot for the third time in a row, despite having lost to her as well.

"Nah, I just know all the right ways to cheat!" She folded her arms behind her head as she smiled with that big toothy grin, feeling no need to hide it, nor was there. Upon her admittance the maids' faces lit up even brighter in awe. Anyone could be lucky. To cheat completely undetected took skill.

"Are you really using [Animal Instinct] just for a card game?" Entoma asked her from between mouthfuls of a human drumstick, which was to say, the leg of a human.

"I could be…" Lupusregina responded innocently, admitting nothing outright, even if it was just one of the many ways she'd been working the game to her advantage.

Yuri gave a small frown at her sister's conduct but held herself back from fully scolding her, instead pouring another glass from the pitcher of iced tea Sous Chef had sent over to them. "While I don't approve of cheating, Lord Ainz has been encouraging us to be more creative in our thinking and use of spells, so I suppose this method isn't the worst type of practice…" She said through hesitant admittance. With how rare it was for all the Pleiades to be gathered together like this these days and the bountiful spread of food before them on the blanket, it was difficult not to think of this as another of their monthly tea parties and check-ins.

When nothing remained but bones, Entoma flicked the leg aside. "Solution, pass me another piece, please."

"Any preference?" Solution asked, herself eating something that, at first glance, appeared to be fries, but upon a closer look one would see the slim digits had fingernails on each of them.

"If it's male, I would prefer something from the right side. If female, anything but from the chest."

"Does it really make that much of a difference?" CZ asked.

"Breasts can be too fatty if the woman was too well-endowed. Lean meat is better if it's not too gamey and men tend to use their right arms more."

"Ohhh! I get it!" Lupusregina laughed loudly, making an obscene up and down gesture with her hand.

"Humans are truly disgusting insects." Narberal finally spoke up just to throw out that one line before going right back to her blank state. It was almost like a reflex for her, which only pushed Lupusregina to laugh harder, even prompting Yuri to cover her mouth to hide a giggle of her own.

Finally finding something that'd suit her tastes, Solution's exposed stomach rippled like water as out oozed the muscular arm of a man, likely that of a farmhand given the tan of the skin. It was slightly wet from the slime coating but otherwise was perfectly preserved, the acidity having not yet started to eat away.

One look and Entoma had already started drooling in anticipation, saliva dripping down from where most would assume her chin was. The arm being passed over to her and she immediately dug in greedily. CZ reacted quickly to move both her drink and her cat over to the side and out of the splash zone, knowing full well from past experience how messy an eater Entoma was. Even for other monsters it was truly a disgusting sight…for all save Solution, contentedly watching her little sister chow down like it was the most adorable sight in the world.

* * *

Aura could barely contain herself. Her hands were trembling as she fought the urge to just smash her face right into meal she carried. As soon as she sat down she already knew the order…no, the mantra she was going to eat in. Bite of burger, some fries, sip of cola, pickle, repeat. Bite of burger, some fries, sip of cola, pickle, repeat. Or would she just go wild? More was on the way, so she had the freedom to be indulgent. Oooooh! She couldn't stand the wait!

However, as soon as she arrived to her spot on the beach, there was a sight abrupt enough to take her mind off her stomach, if only for a moment.

On the towels they'd set down next to Ainz's chair of bones and underneath the shade of a wide umbrella was Mare, accompanied on all sides by three maids; one whom fanned him, another rubbing his feet, and the third attempting to feed him sushi.

One could tell at just a glance that these were not of the maids created by the lords Whitebrim, Herohero, and Coup De Grâce. Only one of the trio was blonde and it was a far more yellow shade than the golden hues among the homunculi, while the other two had hair of pink and blue respectively. If that alone were not enough of a clue, then the lengths of their pointed ears would be what gave the greatest indication of their true species.

These women were elves. Wood elves, specifically, as opposed to dark elves like Aura and Mare, but elves just the same.

The three had not been with Nazarick for very long; the least among those from the outside world they'd taken in. Yet they seemed to have found their place within the Great Tomb quite easily.

"Auraaaaaaaa…" Mare whined to his sister, looking like the most pathetic creature on the planet as those chopsticks kept attempting to offer more rolled fish into his mouth. With the gargantuan difference in level between him and the women, Mare could easily decapitate any or all of them without even meaning to, just with a casual wave of his staff. The only reason he was careful not to was because of direct orders from Ainz himself not to harm them.

With no instant fix to his problem and Mare's naturally timid nature, it made it incredibly easy for the elves to bully him into, ironically, letting them serve him. Hardly a morning went by where they didn't try dressing the children for themselves.

At Mare's plea to her, the three women finally turned their heads and took notice of Aura.

Two immediately rose to their feet to bow, while the third continued with the foot massage. "Lady Aura, welcome back." The blue haired one addressed her properly. "Please, sit back and relax. If you'll hand us your tray, we can begin feeding you."

"I'm 76, not 20. I can feed myself." Aura stated bluntly, her tone making certain to let the elves know to push the subject no further. Unlike her brother, Aura was like an iron wall in her resolve and far more difficult to push around.

A slight timid twitch from the lot of them at being so immediately put in their place, the elf women still accepted her wishes, giving another bow before standing back up straight. That still wasn't the end of the problem though, Aura feeling a pinch of annoyance in her brow as the three were going to keep waiting around on them until they were given an order. It was such a pain!

"Look, if you really want to help us out, tidy up this area a bit, especially around the chair Demiurge made. Lord Ainz can't relax himself around here if everything isn't comfortable and looks good, which means he might choose to move his seat somewhere else."

"Yes, Lady Aura! Right away!" The yellow and pink haired elves acted quickly, brushing any and all particles of sand off the bones of the lounge chair while angling the umbrella beside it to offer the seat the optimal amount of shade.

"And you," She pointed at the blue haired woman. "We're expecting more food, so you can go help in the kitchen to make sure the burgers are done just the way I like."

"Yes, Lady Aura! Right away!" She said the same as the other two, wasting no time as she headed off to the snack shack.

Just like that, Aura had cleared away the obstacles in an instant. Finally free of the oppressive atmosphere, Mare released a long exhale, practically collapsing onto his back.

"Thank you, sis."

"You need to learn to be more assertive." She lectured, hands on her hips as she towered above him. "They only do that because you always act like this. You never see me having any problems with them, do you?"

"…No." Mare's ears drooped down even lower, adjusting himself to be seated in the seiza position, quite familiar with his big sis' talks by now and the best way to make it through them.

Truthfully, the fault wasn't entirely Mare's. It was the elf women themselves whom were also stuck in an unshakable manner of character that Aura couldn't seem to break through no matter how hard she tried.

She could understand it if they were Lady Bukubukuchagama or Lord Ainz. Beings as great as them should never have to do anything for themselves. It was simply just expected that everyone should fall in line in service to them. But all this just for her and her brother? She didn't get it.

* * *

The blue haired elf opened the back door of the shack just in time to view the large stack of walking wooden boxes barely keeping itself from toppling over.

"Oh! Vivi! Just a second!" Called the voice from behind the crates.

"Tuare?" The elf recognized the voice immediately. "Here, let me help you." She quickly moved forward to brace against some of the boxes that were about to fall.

"Thank you."

After a few minutes of awkwardly dividing up the load while doing their best to be sure neither of them took a tumble, the crates were safely set down on the floor, allowing the elf to finally see the face of her fellow maid, wiping the sweat off her forehead with her forearm. With her naturally blonde hair and lack of any non-human characteristics she could easily be mistaken for another of the homunculi. But it was because of how coldly said maids treated her that Vivi eventually came to realize this girl was like her; an outsider.

With no lids covering their tops it was quite apparent that Tuare had just been down in the 6th Floor collecting produce from the Green Hole. Tomatoes, onions, lettuce, potatoes. There was plenty of other fresh veggies filling up the space but those were all Vivi paid any attention to. She knew well by now what kind of diet her lady and lord most preferred.

"Did you have any trouble finding your way around?" Vivi asked, knowing Tuare's work usually was down in the 9th and 10th Floors, and apparently lately not even there.

Tuare shook her head happily. "No, not much. The Sous Chef has taken me down there before to gather ingredients for the kitchen and his bar, and whenever I'm having difficulty the lizardmen are always willing to help me out."

Vivi could believe that. How terrified had she been when she'd first learned she'd be living in the same village as a small collection of rumored man-eaters? But within a short time and she and the others were made aware the lizardmen had far more interest in fish than anything bipedal when given the choice. The crop yields meant very little to them, as they were not exactly made to be herbivores, but so long as they aided in the farm work and his cohabitation project, Ainz kept them supplied with all the meat they could possibly want. While there was a learning curve, the usually lake and marsh dwelling lizardmen became very practiced at working the fields, always eager to show off the literal and figurative fruits of their labors.

As they both got to work unpacking the crates, Vivi asked "How is the city? I'd only been to E-Rantel a handful of times." The two of them rarely saw each other that much as it was, working on different floors, but lately there was not even that, as Tuare had been pulled in to do some work in the newly established Sorcerer Kingdom.

Tuare's smile dipped, just by a little, but she still made an effort not to lose it. "It's…still a bit bigger than I'm used to. It feels like it'd be easy for me to get lost if I took a wrong corner." She spoke, her movements as she sliced through a tomato being a tad bit stiff but Vivi made no comment on it. "But…" Tuare's smile regained some of its genuineness. "Lord Sebas was with me the entire time, so it wasn't that bad."

"That's good to hear. I'd go if I was ordered too but I definitely wouldn't want to be on my own." Vivi had only met the butler a handful of times but even during those short bits the man definitely gave off an air of assurance. Just looking at his steely posture and she could believe someone could attempt to stab Sebas and the blade would snap upon contact. His indestructibility seemed that certain.

It was a few more back and forth bits like that, the two catching up on what they'd missed while apart, uncaring even if it wasn't that much as it was still an excuse to talk. It passed the time smoothly as they set everything up, their voices settling away naturally once the time came for the real work to begin. Within the comfortable atmosphere, soon the only sounds they created being the running of water, the knock of knives against wooden cutting boards, and the strips of peels being carefully undone.

* * *

_She and her fellow two slaves sat undignified on the floor, small pants escaping their lips with every breath. They'd kicked until it hurt and then they kept going, until the pain in their feet was replaced by numbness and swelling. They went on for as long as they could until their legs could no longer support their bodies' own weight, soon collapsing to the ground, like a puppet with its strings cut._

_Directly behind them was the entrance to this room, left completely unguarded. They'd been guided safely through hall after hall to this location by their pink haired ranger, so it stood to reason she could do so again to get them back outside, but such a thing was a fantasy right now._

_Before the three women was an entire nest of lizardmen, their numbers exceeding ten at the very least. Even if they weren't completely exhausted, such creatures were known for their above-human strength, the hardness of their scales, and their sheer ferocity in battle. They'd made no moves against the women yet but perhaps that was because they hadn't tried escaping. In a race for the exit, and most certainly in a fight, the women knew they stood no chance._

_Oh well. It doesn't matter._

_Those thoughts drifted through Vivi's head, for only a few seconds wondering if the other two were thinking the same before she found she didn't care about that either. For the record…yes. They were._

_If they were going to die, at least it wouldn't be in fear. They didn't have the strength for that. If they were to die, it would be in apathy, having nothing left in this world they needed to care about. If they were to die…at least they got the gift of getting to see HIM go before them._

_Vivi just realized now her foot was settled in the redness that slowly oozed out of the decapitated and disarmed corpse. She couldn't even feel the wetness of the blood as it pooled underneath her. She couldn't feel anything._

_As the three lazily watched the lizardmen with dead eyes, wondering just what it was they seemed to be waiting for…it appeared. Or should they say…he did._

_It was so sudden it was like it'd happened in the blink of an eye, but there had been no time for the elves' eyelids to even fall for that to be accurate. One second he had not been there and the next he simply was; a skeleton in an imposing black robe, like he'd just walked out from the shadows themselves. The lizardmen did not react too strongly, having apparently been expecting him, but even they seemed somewhat shaken by the lack of any build-up to his appearance._

_At the skeleton's sides, two maids let go of his arms, having needed physical contact in order to travel alongside him. One of them, a somewhat tense but otherwise competent looking blonde girl, appeared to be human, the first aside from the Workers the elves had seen since entering this tomb. But the other most definitely was not. Or…perhaps at one time she had been? The body was like that of a beautiful woman but with the vertical scar with signs of stitching running down the very center of her face, the elves would not have been surprised if the maid took off her uniform and revealed that what connected that body to her literal sheepdog head were more stitches._

_Surprised? No. But the thought of it did spark the return of some emotion back into the women. The kind that made their bodies tremble with the idea they were looking at what may soon be their own fate._

_Not moving yet from where he'd arrived, the skeleton silently observed the elves, them almost feeling the glow of his burning red eyes passing over them._

"_I take it these are the three you told me about, Zaryusu?" He finally spoke after a minute._

"_Yes, Lord Ainz. That's right." One of the lizardmen stepped forward. Specist as it may sound, it was only expected that humanoid mammals like the elves had difficultly noting any significant differences between the reptilian lizardmen. Even the darker color of his scales did little to help, with his biggest distinguishing feature that helped him stand out in their minds being the odd weapon at his hip, appearing to be a thick slab of ice that someone had sculpted into a blade._

_Small tremors started to vibrate through the ground as a large mass rushed its way back toward the crowd._

"_Master, I did it!" The noble beast known as Hamsuke joyously declared to the skeleton. With her large and round body one would almost think such a creature would travel by curling up into a ball and rolling, but as evidenced in the fight the elves had paid witness to, she was quite nimble on her feet. "Successfully performed a Martial Art, I have!"_

"_Really?" Ainz said, placing his hand upon his jaw as his interest was piqued, seemingly unbothered over being interrupted. He cast a glance over to the lizardmen._

"_That's what it looked like from here anyway." A different lizardman other than Zaryusu spoke up for the rest of them, rubbing his head with a right arm significantly larger than his left, like he could wrap his palm around the trunk of a tree and uproot it with a single tug. "Admittedly I'm more used to what it looks like when a lizardman uses Martial Arts vs…whatever Hamsuke is. But it's hard to mistake the magic of warriors for most anything else."_

"_I see. Well done, Hamsuke."_

"_Continue to improve, I shall, to be a warrior worthy of my place at your side, Hamsuke swears!"_

"_Just being able to learn and use a Martial Art alone provides me with valuable knowledge. But still, I look forward to seeing your progress."_

_With that momentary distraction over, Ainz turned his gaze back over to the elves._

"_[Mana Essence]."_

_The women felt their bodies give a shiver, that moment the lights of his eyes giving a flare in their intensity. Was this the effect of a spell, or was his stare alone enough to spark such dread within them? It felt like he was looking straight through the three, right down to their souls._

"_Hm… Not much to speak of, but enough to fit with the level of magic I was told they were capable of casting…" Their ears picked up his small mutters to himself. His eyes dimmed back to normal but the three felt no release from his hold. He took a glance over at the corpse beside them. "You said they did not participate in the battle outside of casting support magic?"_

"_That's right." Zaryusu said. "They all joined in at the end but it seemed to be mostly the blue haired one doing the healing before then, so I think they have different classes."_

"_Determined to fight on his own, this warrior was, until quickly overpowered him, I did, at which time he began screaming for assistance." Hamsuke poked her toes at the body. "Odd allies they seem to be. Even after their comrade was slain, try to avenge him they did not."_

_Ainz stood in quiet for another moment, looking back and forth between the heavily bruised corpse and the exhausted women with swollen shins, likely putting together the pieces in his head._

"_Tuare."_

_The human maid at his side felt her spine stiffen instantly as she'd been called to attention. "Y-yes, my lord?"_

"_Is there any perspective you can give on this?" Ainz asked her._

_The request, though spoken with gentleness, visible shook the girl, her lips pinched together, like the words had gotten painfully caught in her throat. Despite the delay, the skeleton did not rush her, allowing Tuare all the time she needed to swallow some air and work up the strength to speak._

"_Where I was before…there were elves there too. Some were brought to stay…other were just there for holding until they were sent somewhere else. Al-all of them had their ears cut, like that." She timidly gestured her head at the six ears before them, all having been long been chopped down to half their original lengths. "It was to show that they…belonged to someone."_

"_I see." Ainz said thoughtfully, before returning to quiet pondering. With that unspoken permission that she did not have to say anything more, Tuare unconsciously gripped the apron of her uniform to try and relax herself, with the dog-headed maid placing a hand upon her shoulder to give further comfort. Just who was this girl, Vivi wondered, with the minimum of thought that could be mustered. How could she possibly know what they'd been through?_

"_You may relax yourselves." Ainz finally spoke directly to the three women, though being addressed by an undead made his request a bit difficult. "I assure you, no one here seeks to do you any harm. Unlike that man there," He gestured at the corpse. "You did not invade my home by choice, seeking to satisfy your own petty greed. Rather, you were forced to come here. Cruel as I'm capable of being, I do not seek to punish those who've committed no crime against me. As such, your lives will be spared and you will be allowed to leave Nazarick without penalty."_

_While they hesitated to take their eyes off him, the three found themselves exchanging uncomprehending glances with each other. What had he just said? Was this…some kind of trick? It couldn't be that easy, could it?_

"_However," Ainz spoke again, causing their spines to stiffen. "Before you go, I do have a proposal I'd like for you all to hear me out on."_

"_A p-proposal?" The pink haired elf squeaked out. Vivi was amazed she was able to say anything at all. It felt like there was a cork in her throat._

_Ainz nodded. "I have in my care two elf children. A boy and a girl. Twins, in fact. They are quite mature for their age, or at least so I have been led to believe. That said, I can't help but think their mental and emotional development would benefit greatly from having more exposure to more of their own kind. I'm aware there are differences between dark elves like them and wood elves like yourselves, but those differences should be negligible for what I am thinking."_

_The three listened carefully to his every word, not daring to interrupt, but they felt they weren't truly understanding him. What was he getting at?_

"_My proposal is simply this; stay and live here in Nazarick, on the 6__th__ Floor with Aura and Mare. Nothing will be expected of you, other than answering any questions they may have regarding their species and…ahem…natural development." He gave an awkward cough despite not having a throat. "Simply live and act with them as you would any children of the elves. The shelter is obvious but food and any other necessities will of course be provided."_

_He watched the three's reactions closely, judging how well were buying into his pitch. Their disbelief was quite apparent, and thus they needed another little push._

"_You are naturally free to reject this offer with no penalty and I will have my servants escort you safety out of the tomb. But know this;" He added, raising up a single finger. "Once you are outside these walls, what happens to you next is no longer any concern of ours. Nazarick takes care of its own and the rest of the world does not matter. We will not retaliate against you but nor will we give you any further aid. Your names and faces will be but a distant memory for us and you will simply be another of the others."_

_It was a subtle threat but it was easy enough to understand. The skeleton very likely was telling the truth that his people would not harm them…because they didn't need to._

_The three were in the center of a human supremist country and their cut ears marked them clearly as someone's property. How far could they possibly get on foot before they were found, captured, and sent right back into the system again? They probably wouldn't be able to even make it back to the camp the workers had set up before entering the tomb, let alone making it all the way to the Elf Kingdom. They'd heard stories of the great hero Momon but there was no reason to believe even a godkin would be sympathetic to their plight. Not so long as he was human._

_This man…this…undead… He presented his case like he was giving them a choice but it was far more like an ultimatum. Do as he asks...or suffer a fate worse than death._

"_I accept! I'll do it!" The yellow haired elf startled everyone with the quickness of her outburst. Her face was not that of someone who was excited of the possibilities or scared of them either. Her eyes bugged out and her mouth was open wide in features of pure desperation, something her fellow two slaves had no difficulty understanding._

_Whoever coined the phrase "Better the devil you know than the devil you don't" had likely never spent a considerable amount of time in the company of any devils period. If you were tortured the same way, endlessly, every day, for more days than you could keep count of, what would you give to be free from that pain, even if it might mean you face something worse in the reprieve?_

_Even Ainz seemed a little surprised by how quickly his offer had been accepted, but he rolled with the development easily and looked to the other two. "And you?"_

"_I-I-I accept t-too." The pink haired elf spoke next. If there was anyone who'd know the hopelessness of navigating their way to any safe location, it would be a ranger._

"_Me too." Vivi felt her neck tremble as she nodded her head. Their chances were slim even if the three of them were together. There was no way she'd be able to last on her own out there while the others were staying here._

_With that, all three had agreed to the terms of the deal, even without knowing everything it would entail. That's just how far their former master had pushed them into seeking any little chance of release._

"…_Very well." Ainz said with a nod of his head. "Pestonya."_

"_Right away, my lord." The dog-headed maid finally spoke and stepped forward, her voice surprisingly soothing in contrast to her appearance. She made her way out before her master and stood just a few feet before the sitting elves._

_Holding out both her hands, numerous magic circles burst into existence before her palms._

_The panic was instant. They all knew various bits of magic but none of them had ever seen such a sheer display of power before. Before their eyes was a sight that only exist within the domain of the gods and it was pointed right at their faces. The adrenaline spiked but their bodies remained frozen. It wasn't just that their legs were too sore to move, for that alone wouldn't have stopped them. It was simply that they could not comprehend what they were seeing and their brains could not process anything well enough to command their limbs into motion._

_The light that followed was blinding, almost burning. And then…_

…_they could breathe easier?_

_A tightness that had been in their chests had been loosened. There was no longer any pain when their lungs took in air. They hadn't even realized how much it'd ached before until they now felt its absence._

_The fatigue in their limbs had vanished. The swelling of their feet from all the kicking had been reduced down to nothing. Though they did not yet make any attempt, it felt like there was no reason any longer that they could not stand, even run away if they had the urge, thus how energized their bodies suddenly become._

_Vivi heard a small squeak from her fellow elves, looking over to find them raising hands up to their heads. Were they in pain? She wondered at first, thinking that she'd been spared from it for some reason…until she saw what they were reaching for._

_And at that very moment, her hands shot up as well, to check for the impossible._

_When her fingers touched upon them, her mind's immediate instinct was to reject the reality. Everything that was happening, it was all a dream. It had to be. She was still asleep in the wagon, having not yet even arrived at the tomb the workers were to explore. Or perhaps the entire job was also just part of the dream? She was likely on the floor of some inn or sharing HIS bed, finally mercifully allowed to go to sleep after he'd finished satisfying himself with her body. There was no tomb. No skeleton king. No corpse on the floor. None of it was real. It simply couldn't be._

_But even as she told herself that over and over, the dream would not end. The illusion refused to shatter and the feeling at the tips of her fingers did not fade. In spite of her denial and that of her fellow slaves, reality still insisted upon itself._

_Her ears._

_Her ears were back. Back to their proper length, like they'd never been cut in the first place._

_The world around Vivi became blurred. There was too much water flowing from her eyes for her to see properly anymore._

_What was the best way to describe the man whom kept the three as his slaves? The man who, in his refusal to give his name, unintentionally admitted his name was one not worth remembering, or even mentioning? Well…in spite of being a racist…in spite of being a rapist…in spite of seeing no value in the lives of anyone save for himself…he liked to believe that he was a good man…and thus any reminder that he was not was forbidden. Any tears his slaves shed from his abuse was met with even harsher punishment, for how dare they even imply any lack in his virtue, and the three learned quickly to keep their tears out of his sight._

_How long had it been since she'd openly wept in front of anyone? How long had it been since the wetness that fell from her eyes was from anything other than pain?_

_She couldn't see or hear Tuare as she walked up to the three, only able to make out a blob of colors in a maid outfit as she knelt down to them._

_Whether it was instinct or for support, Vivi couldn't remember exactly why she grabbed onto her. Even months later and this moment would still be something of a blur to her. All she knew was that she held onto the human as tightly as she could, screaming and sobbing into her chest until her throat went out, unable to close the floodgates on her emotions now that the dam had burst. And through it all, Tuare did not force her to let go. It would seem she truly did have an understanding of this kind of pain._

"_You are no longer anyone's property." Ainz spoke, his robe flowing with unparalleled majesty as he turned away from the women to make his departure, leaving the rest in the care of Pestonya. "From this moment forth, you are of Nazarick."_

* * *

Ainz had been true to his word. He'd granted them comfortable accommodations, safety, and enough food to insure they'd be as well fed as they'd wish to be. All that was asked in return was the very basic request he'd made that they still treat the elf children like elf children, which they did…and thus their current position.

Becoming maids had been their idea, something which they'd approached the head maid about and gained her permission, likely accommodating them because it was how they could best fulfill Ainz's orders. Because this? This was how all elves knew to treat elf children like _them_. Really, Ainz had chosen his words brilliantly. He had to have known full well what he was getting them to agree to.

She remembered well when Pestonya had brought them to the 6th Floor; the looks on their faces the first time they saw the twins. The women had been fortunate enough to have never been brought before the Elf King, a man who cared nothing for his countrymen beyond how they allowed him to indulge in an excess of lust and luxury, but any elf with even the most basic understanding of their culture would have immediately noticed the similarity and its significance.

Blue and green heterochromatic eyes. The sign of Elvin royalty. Not even the majority of the Elf King's many children had those eyes and here was an undead with two of them in his care. And with every bit of news that leaked down from the world above via the excitement of those who served him, a lot of things started to make sense to the women.

He claimed Re-Estize territory for himself. He had made the Baharuth Empire a vassal nation to his own. He had forged an alliance with the dwarves. He saved the Holy Kingdom in its most desperate hour. One by one Ainz Ooal Gown was drawing other nations under his power, in big strokes and small gestures that would inevitably snowball into something significant later. What reason was there to believe the Elf Kingdom wasn't another nation he wanted to acquire? Or that he hadn't already made preparations to do so?

Just having those eyes qualified the twins as candidates for the throne. What would determine whether they'd be able to sit upon it was power. This was why the Elf King had remained secure in his position for so long, with no challengers being able to match even half the might he commanded.

But she had seen Lord Mare move the very earth with just the direction of his staff. Seen Lady Aura command beasts that looked as though they could slaughter entire armies. And the being backing them, the man they held loyalty to above all others, a sorcerer whom had ended the annual war between Re-Estize and Baharuth with a single spell that ended the lives of over 170,000 soldiers.

They could really do it. They could dethrone the Elf King.

With the twins seated as king and queen and Ainz likely as the true power behind them, they could re-forge the old alliance the kingdom had with the Slane Theocracy and bring an end the war, having done away with its instigator. Or they could simply end it the old-fashioned way and wipe out the theocracy itself, seeing no need to work with beings so beneath them.

And either way…Vivi found she wasn't bothered by those thoughts. No…that was not entirely accurate. She was looking forward to whatever fate all those bastards would get.

Her countrymen had been slaughtered in a war started by the king's own stupid, selfish actions. The three of them had been sent to the front lines because he couldn't be bothered to clean up his own mess. They'd been captured by the Slane Theocracy because why just kill the non-humans when they can humiliate and make them suffer? They'd been sold into slavery because the true power in Re-Estize reveled in its own corruption. The adventurer who bought them treated them like tools and playthings just because he could get away with it.

Every face Vivi saw in her memories brought nothing but hate and contempt out of her. All she could see were their sneers and it took all her will to push past those mocking eyes and imagine the lot of them just burning for what they'd done to her.

She barely registered how badly her hand was shaking. The knife hovered over the tomato, unable to keep the strength of her arm in check. If it went down now it'd slice into the cutting board, unable to find any middle ground between zero and all the force she had.

Despite being in the middle of her own work, Tuare did finally pick up on the absence of noise from Vivi's station and gave a look over.

Vivi was jolted back to her senses as she felt the warm touch upon the back of her hand, Tuare holding it gently with her own. The elf turning her head in a momentary panic, Tuare simply gave a soft smile in return, saying nothing and allowing her friend to take all the time she needed.

Though it took a few seconds, Vivi finally understood what Tuare was allowing. Returning the smile in gratitude, she took in and released many long, drawn-out breaths. Within time, the shaking of her hand slowly subsided.

Vivi swallowed a bit of spit, clearing her throat. "Th…Thanks."

Tuare gave a small nod. "Anytime." She assured her, withdrawing her hand. Vivi felt a small groan welling up from her heart, wanting her to keep it there just a little longer, but refrained from saying anything, still grateful for even that small moment. Another to add among the many others.

Tuare had not been a servant of Nazarick for much longer than she had and yet the seniority showed. This simple human girl seeming to have made it her purpose to help the three settle in as smoothly as possible…including helping in the areas it seemed only she could have understood. Tuare never talked about where she'd been before here, but the way she spoke to them, the care in which she approached…she knew. In the worst way that someone could come to understanding what the three had been through, she knew.

Another face to add to those Vivi hated, even if she didn't have an exact image. Whoever had tormented Tuare like those who had tormented her.

Every day, while serving at the elf twins' sides, she waited to hear the good news. That her old home had been taken…or that it was finally just gone.

Who gave a damn about the Elf Kingdom? Who gave a damn about Re-Estize or the empire? Humans, demis, her own countrymen, they could all burn for all she cared, and if her new master decided that was what to be their fate, then she would not weep for a single one of them. Only he had done anything to be deserving of her tears.

Vivi snuck another small peek at Tuare, any conflict in her expression gone as she was completely refocused on the food prep. She somewhat envied how much the human seemed to enjoy cooking and could just get completely lost in it.

A small, genuine smile returned to her face.

Lord Ainz had saved them both. He was the only one who mattered.

In the midst of their work, as Vivi asked Tuare what more she needed chopped and gathered to complete her dish, neither of the two took notice of the figure on the other side of the kitchen door, cracked open just enough to be able to see them.

Sebas waited with his back to the frame for just a few moments more before finally allowing his strong face to relent. His eyes closed and a small smile like that of the elf's graced itself over his beard.

It would seem his ward was managing just fine on her own, and thus did the butler walk off to resume his rounds.

* * *

Ainz stood upon the beach, staring off into the horizon as the gentle wind soothed the surface of his bones. Though there were none in sight, the squawks of gulls mixed peacefully with the waves of the ocean in front of him and ruckus of his friends' beloved creations behind him.

"….."

"…_I wish I could eat."_

* * *

**Author's notes: **How long was the break between chapters? Well, not only did I finish reading what is currently available for the _Rising of the Shield Hero _light novels (save the most recent, vol. 17), I also did the same for _Goblin Slayer _and _RE:Zero_. So yeah…been a while. Sorry about that.

There's no names listed for the three elf women that I could find so I made the name Vivi up. It was the first name that popped into my head with four letters (like Aura and Mare) and it's almost entirely because she had blue hair. I tend to keep saved versions of these stories so if and when the elves do get their names revealed I'll likely try and edit the real name in for the sake of accuracy.

I've already got the next chapter done so it should be up tomorrow because it's a pretty short one, especially compared to this chapter with ended up way longer than I'd originally intended.


	7. Bicorn Racing

**Part 7: Bicorn racing**

"It would seem that our fifth game will need a few minutes to be fully prepared." Demiurge said as he read the ball dropped from the bingo machine. "The Bicorn Race!"

At his direction a collection of maids started leading them out by the reins. Multiple horses of near solid black color, save for the red of their eyes and the silver of their armors and saddle. At both sides of their heads featured a horn for two each, distinguishing them from their Unicorn cousins, of which they were a subspecies.

Demiurge continued on as the maids bequeathed a single Bicorn to each of the NPCs who wished to take part in the game. "It shall be a simple four lap race, from one end of the beach to the other and back again. The first to cross the finish line at the end of the fourth lap is declared the winner, so I do suggest you pace yourselves."

A little more time was needed to finish passing out the horses and setting up the starting line, so Ainz had a moment to study how the NPCs handled the animals. He found it odd that Aura was not participating in the game, nor was allowing Mare to, but she was still assisting the maids in keeping the Bicorns calm and under control, as was only natural for someone with her skillset. He could see Sebas gently stroking the mane of his mount, Ainz putting together that it was his way of getting the beast to trust him before he'd even attempt to get on. The biggest surprise was most certainly Solution, having already mounted her Bicorn and having it pace around for a bit to get the feel of things. He had no idea she had any experience riding.

"I did not know that horseback racing was considered a beach activity." Ainz commented to Demiurge once he got close. Not out of doubt, just curiosity.

"According to the research we did beaches have traditionally hosted a wide variety of races, from three-legged team races to using some wheeled machine called an A-T-V. Unfortunately we had no such thing resembling the latter within Nazarick so the Bicorn were another option come up with to ensure the most overall even playing field."

With a gleam of intrigue from his master's eye, Demiurge was encouraged to continue his explanation. "While they possess no truly unique abilities, Bicorns are exceptionally strong and able to support a considerable amount of weight and bulk. Even Cocytus should give no trouble to the mare he's given." He happily explained, having the nearest maid bring over one so that he may better emphasize its impressive black frame. "Though of course asking one to support Gargantua might be a bit much."

"I'd be in agreement with that. Though I'm sure there are exceptions, most simple animals should have no reason to be made to endure such cruelty."

"Indeed, my lord. _Most _animals." Demiurge gave a chuckle, like he was laughing over some private joke between the two of them, though what that joke could possibly be Ainz had no idea. "Anyway, another bonus is that, unlike the War Bicorn Lords which can only be ridden by their summoner, these were raised with help on the 6th Floor and thus will obey orders from any rider. The trade-off, of course, being a much lower level, though they can be put to use as mounts for our troops after today."

"Ah! A sound investment then." Ainz praised him. He shouldn't be that surprised. Demiurge was exactly the type to make moves that resulted in the most net gains overall. If Nazarick were an actual company Demiurge's department would be the one spending the least amount of its budget and yet still somehow end up being the most profitable (Suzuki Satoru's was fortunate enough to break even at least half the time).

As one of the maids approached with questions about the set-up and Demiurge had to excuse himself to attend to those other matters, Ainz studied the Bicorn further. He knew really nothing about horses but even as untrained an eye as his could tell how remarkably in-shape and muscular this beast was. It seemed doubtful it'd even feel his weight if he were to get on, much less be restrained by it.

"_Now that I think about it, I don't think I've had any experience riding a horse since I got to this world, have I?"_

Most of his travels tended to involve horse-drawn caravans, of which he'd be in the carriage, or simply using [Gate] and [Greater Teleportation] to get to anywhere he'd already been instantly. To date his only significant experiences with a mount were with Hamsuke (and no matter what anyone in this world said, he'd never be able to see a grown man riding atop a giant hamster as anything other than completely humiliating) and with one of Aura's pets as they made the trek to the Dwarf Kingdom. In both cases the builds of the creatures were completely different from that of a horse and required much different ways of sitting and directing them. What was going to happen when the time came for him to ride an actual horse, like one would expect a king to do?

He could just see it now. The great and powerful Sorcerer King, Ainz Ooal Gown, sitting atop his majestic steed; royal fanfare all around to announce his presence as he made his way down the street!

…with the saddle soon slipping and Ainz taking an undignified tumble off the side.

Ainz quickly shook his head to free himself from the mortifying simulation.

"_If the Bicorns are strong and easy to control, this wouldn't be the worst opportunity for me to get some practice in."_ He decided firmly, gripping his hands upon the horse's reins, to which the Bicorn made no objection to. _"If I do fall, I can always say that I was just goofing around and trying to have some fun. It wouldn't be as big a deal here as it would be doing it out there."_

"Lord Ainz, please, allow me to help you." He heard Sebas' voice from behind; the butler having taken notice of him figuring out how best to get on.

"Hm? Ah, yes, thank you. If you'd be so kind."

As Sebas offered a literal hand for the Overlord to step so that he may gain some needed height over the Bicorn's middle, just a short bit away was another whom had yet to get on her mount, though for very different reasons.

Albedo had not yet even made the attempt, simply instead staring at the Bicorn a maid had granted to her, cheeks tinted heavily pink with heat and teeth biting her lips.

She knew what would happen if she got on. As did a certain other, whose mocking stare she could feel scalding her backside.

"O~hohoho!" Shalltear laughed from behind her hand, having no idea how happy she'd have made her creator if he'd ever heard her laugh like that. "What's the matter, Albedo?" She asked as she walk up closer. "It's just a Bicorn. Nothing to be scared of. You've ridden one loads of times. …OH WAIT! I guess you haven't, have you?! I'm so sorry! How inconsiderate of me! O~hohoho!"

"Sh-Shut up! Like you can say anything after your disastrous performance during the 200-meter swim!" Albedo immediately snapped back but even she could tell how hollow it was.

Completely unphased, Shalltear went up and ran her hand tenderly along the Bicorn's face, getting the horse to lean into her comforting palm, the vampire's smug expression taunting Albedo the entire time.

"Don't feel too bad. It is a lapped race after all. I'll be sure to pass by the starting line enough times so that you're not lonely!"

"Why-! You-! You-…!" Albedo tried to force something out but there was nothing. What was there to say? What could she possibly say? Shalltear had her nailed on this one and they both knew it.

While this Beach Day was the brainchild of both herself and Demiurge, Albedo had mainly left the games up to him, having already been planning on participating in them to show off to Ainz and not wanting Shalltear to try accusing her of cheating for having inside knowledge. Despite not having won any of the other games yet, that had still been working out reasonably well for her so far…until now. She could have caught and stopped this before it was too late but what would she have even said? To Demiurge these Bicorns were just stronger horses Nazarick had easy access to. He had no reason to know what it meant for them to be a symbol of impurity. Lord Peroroncino's old encyclopedia was the only reason the three female Floor Guardians knew and it most certainly was not information Albedo had felt the need to share.

The succubus' "purity" was her greatest shame, and a secret she tried to keep hidden from even Ainz himself. But there'd be no way of hiding her Bicorn stalling on the track and no other explanation for why her very touch weakened the creature to the point it could not move forward other than…that.

A distraught neigh finally broke the two out of their bickering and they turned to the sight sand kicked up by the uncomfortable shifting of hooves.

"Ugh-! Am I…doing this right?" Ainz fumbled with the reins as the mount ignored all direction. At first he was afraid the Bicorn was about to chuck him off the saddle but rather the exact opposite seemed to be happening. The poor thing whined pathetically, legs wobblingly like it could barely support the weight of the two of them.

For the longest single moment of their existences, all sound and motion had to have cut out from the world for Albedo and Shalltear.

* * *

"Demiurge, we'd like to lodge a complaint."

"It's a very urgent matter."

"Hm?" The archdevil turned his head to the two in confusion.

* * *

And thus the Bicorn race was cancelled due to clearly defective equipment.

The defective equipment in question was shortly thereafter beheaded for insolence.

* * *

**Author's notes: **So, on the Overlord reddit I believe I once saw a question asking how Albedo would react to finding on Ainz is a virgin too. Would she be completely ecstatic and unable to keep her hands off him (more so that she already does) because not only would he be her first, she'd be his? Or would she be completely unbelieving no matter the evidence before her, as how could someone as supreme and godly as Ainz not have already banged like a Zeus in heat? The only real solid answer I could come up with is that either way, if she found out because of the Bicorn, the Bicorn was going to be slaughtered, because virgin or not how dare it disobey Ainz. Most of the NPCs would kill to have him sit of them and ride 'em like a pony!

Of the two options, I do have a preference for the former, as I don't believe someone never having had sex is anything to be ashamed of any more than I think someone having had tons of sex with many partners is anything to be ashamed of. As long as it's consensual, I typically don't tend to give a sh*t what you do/don't do.


End file.
